In the Shadows of Love
by JolieFille
Summary: They flirted and fought. They lost and found. And then they lived happily ever after...right? Well, it depends on who 'they' is. Sequel to Last Mile.
1. Chapter One: New Beginnings

Prologue

_He whose head is in the shadow of love will have heaven beneath his feet._

_He whose head is in the shadow of love will walk in the shadow._

_There's a friend who is like a sweet fragrance, _

_whose words are like poetry _

_who is my evening, my night, my resurrection. _

_That friend is my beloved!_

_Sometimes she flirts like a flower,_

_so fragrantly that you may see her scent._

_Having made it into an charm, I will wear it. _

_She shall be obtained as a miracle is obtained._

_She is my song, my declaration of faith _

_My song... my declaration of faith._

_She moves like the dew._

_She walks with the garden of heaven beneath her feet,_

_sometimes through the branches, sometimes amidst the leaves._

_I shall search the wind for her trail!_

_He whose head is in the shadow of love will have heaven beneath his feet._

_He whose head is in the shadow of love will walk in the shadow._

Chapter One: New Beginnings

Beautiful. There was no other word to describe it. Kierra Nakofsky did not need a mirror to tell her that she looked beautiful. She felt it. The moment the zipper closed itself behind her, she knew it. This was the one. Kierra whirled around, grinning broadly at the full length mirror. Yes, this was _definitely_ the one. She could just imagine Remus, standing at the front of the altar with his mouth slightly open, the corners of his lips playing at a smile. His eyes would meet hers, and then they would slowly travel down, taking in every inch of her appearance. But he would do it so subtly that no one except themselves would notice it. One of the many things she loved about him—his subtlety.

Kierra lifted her dress a few inches and took a few steps back, and then watched herself in the mirror as she took a few steps forward. No, she was supposed to walk slower than that. Kierra backed away again and repeated her steps, this time much slower, humming the bridal march in her head. She grinned as she let go of her dress. Kierra could not believe that the time had finally come. It seemed as though only yesterday Remus had popped the question to her...well, he hadn't exactly _asked_ her, it was just something they had silently agreed to do…

They had gone back to London to visit Kierra's brother Harvey and his wife Janine, along with their two children, fifteen year old Nora and eleven month old Jackie. Along the way, they had made a stop at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, where Remus wanted to make a withdrawal. They had stepped inside the dark, cold vault that was empty save for a small stack of galleons and a small wooden chest that resembled a jewelry box. As Remus began to count galleons into a small sack, Kierra had run a hand over the dusty chest...

"_What's in here?" she had asked automatically. She looked up expectantly at Remus, wondering if he would chastise her for being nosy._

"_Oh…" Remus pocketed his withdrawal and made his way to Kierra. "This was my mother's jewelry box"—he tapped the lid with his wand and a moment later something inside made a clicking noise. He opened the box and withdrew a single diamond ring which seemed to gleam in the darkness—"she used to have a lot more, but I sold it over the years because I needed the money. But I never got around to selling this piece because…well, it was my mum's wedding ring…and her mother's, and her mother's…"_

_Kierra had nodded, smiling slightly as she watched Remus slowly twirling the ring between his fingers. "So I was always expected to give this to my wife if I ever got married…" he said, staring at the ring. "I've thought of selling it many times. It's quite valuable, you know. A couple hundred years old now…but"—he sighed deeply as he looked Kierra in the eyes—"I can't bring myself to sell it. I just think of my mum, and how she never would've forgiven me if I did. I don't think she would have wanted me to lose hope…"_

"_Your mum was a smart lady." Kierra replied._

_The two of them smiled at each other, momentarily forgetting that they were in a cold, drippy cave-like vault. Her look had been reassuring, and his had been grateful. Just then, a mechanic sort of voice rang through the vault._

"_Vault number 636, your time is up."_

_Remus and Kierra had jumped slightly, startled at the reappearance of the goblin who had led them to Remus's vault. In the small shock, Remus had dropped his mother's ring, and it rolled onto the dark, dingy floor. Remus swore under his breath, and Kierra giggled at the sound of it—it was not everyday Remus Lupin swore—and immediately they fell on all fours in search for the ring. After about a minute of searching, Kierra found the ring, which had lodged itself into a small crevice in the ground. _

"_Ah-found it!" she had exclaimed, pulling herself to her feet and grinning at Remus. "Here you go"—she extended her arm out to drop the ring in his hand, but his hand did not open for reception. He simply stared at the ring, and then shifted his gaze to her—"What?" she asked._

_He looked at the ring pensively, as though he were trying to make a decision on the spot. At long last, he looked her in the eyes and smiled slightly, taking Kierra's hand in his own. With one hand around her wrist, Remus used his other hand to close Kierra's fingers around the ring and gently push her hand away. She cocked an eyebrow at him, looking very uncertain. But as realization dawned upon her, Kierra's eyes widened and a scream had escaped her lips before she could stop it. _

It had been a very memorable engagement, what with fifteen goblins racing into Remus's vault at the sound, and the mini-hearing they had to face before the board of directors at Gringotts for all the disruption and alarm they had apparently caused in the bank. Well, at least she would always have an interesting story to tell when people asked her how she had gotten engaged. Which reminded her…

"Er—Marie!"

Immediately, an old heavy-set witch in elegant green robes and a tape measure hanging around her neck came bustling in. A moment later, she was followed by a petite woman about Kierra's age, who had long black hair and dark almond-shaped eyes to match. The pair had stopped shortly at the site. The black haired woman let out a small gasp and clamped her hands over her mouth.

"Kierra! This _is _the one!" she breathed, staring at Kierra's figure from top to bottom. "Twirl around a bit!"

Kierra obliged and turned around, closing her eyes and smiling as she felt her gown swishing around her. "Oh, Dominique, this is it! I'm going with this one! What do you think, Marie?"

The heavy-set woman only sighed in response as she fell back into a chair. "Finally"—she blinked a few times and quickly sat up straighter in her chair—"I mean…excellent choice! You look ravishing, my dear! Well, I think that wraps things up..."

"Right," Kierra said, throwing her hand back to unzip the gown. "I'll pay for it now"--

"Are you kidding me?" exclaimed Dominique.

Kierra paused in her effort to unzip her dress. "Er--what? I thought we all agreed this is the one..."

Dominique rolled her eyes and turned the Marie. "This gown is ridiculously over-priced"--

"I'm afraid it isn't." Marie replied in a seemingly forced civil tone. "You won't find styles like these any cheaper."

"At 600 galleons?" Dominique pressed. "Please. My rent doesn't even cost that much."

Marie sighed. "Alright. 550."

"We can take our business elsewhere." Dominique replied, folding her arms over her chest and looking squarely at Marie. Kierra raised an eyebrow, looking from Marie to Dominique. It was like watching a quidditch math. No, more like one of those muggle games...tennis...

"Alright, 500, but that's my final offer!" Marie replied.

"If you take it down to 450, Kierra will buy the rest of her ensembles from here."

"What's left to buy?" Marie asked, turning to Kierra.

"Oh"--Kierra blinked, suprised at being allowed a say in the matter--"well, I need a veil or a tiara...I think a tiara. And gloves...and shoes."

"450 galleons then. But only if you get your stuff now." Marie said stiffly, throwing a glare at Dominique as she headed out of the fitting room. "I've got some lovely tiaras in the backroom. Follow me..."

Kierra left two hours later with not only a wedding dress, but a tiara, gloves, shoes, a bustier, and a dress design she promised Marie she would send to her niece Nora, who was to be the bridesmaid at the upcoming wedding. She glanced sideways at her friend Dominique, who was carrying some of Kierra's purchases for her. Thank goodness for D. Thanks to her, she had saved 150 galleons on her gown and 20 galleons on her tiara. Kierra never would have thought to haggle with the saleswoman...she wasn't the aggressive sort of shopper like D. Moreover, she wasn't even really a shopper to begin with. If it weren't for Dominique, Kierra probably would have wandered into some regular old store like Cassandra's Clothiers, which was comparable to a supermarket, according to Dominique.

"Hey, thanks for coming out with me today." Kierra said suddenly as they left Diagon Alley and entered The Leaky Cauldron, the dingy-looking inn that served as a bridge to Diagon Alley. "If you hadn't come, I'd still be in there trying on dresses."

Dominique grinned as the innkeeper, Tom, showed them to a table. "Not a problem. I had fun watching you prance around the dressing rooms...and of course catching your bouquet all those times."

Kierra laughed. "Poor Marie. She didn't look too happy on that third toss...well, seeing as how she _did_ get in the face..."

"And I'm betting that getting hit by a thorn-infested bouquet of roses is a bit painful." Dominique added.

"Well, I'm glad she just sells wedding apparel. If I was buying the wedding cake from her, I suppose she'd be spitting in the batter." Kierra said seriously.

Dominique laughed. "Well, something to keep in mind then when you're dealing with the baker and the caterers."

Kierra grinned as she took a sip of the gillywater that Tom had brought them moments ago. "Remus is taking care of the food. His culinary tastes are so much more refined."

Dominique stirred her drink with her straw, trying to pull out the lemon slice that had fallen into her drink from the rim of her glass. "Except with desserts. You _do_ know that he's probably just going to get a giant chocolate cake for the occasion, right?"

Kierra laughed. "Fine by me..."

Dominique made a face. "Right. So you'll have this five-layered chocolate cake served at your wedding, with two white figurines sitting on top of it...well, one white figurine. I'm assuming the groom will be wearing black?" she aked, raising an eyebrow at Kierra.

"The figurine will be. Remus will be wearing grey though." Kierra replied, smiling slightly as an image of Remus in a light grey tails tuxedo popped into her mind.

"Kierra, I'm still here, you know." Dominique cut in. Kierra snapped out of her brief reverie, only to see Dominique smirking at her. "You can fantasize about Remus later. Anyway, a giant chocolate cake will completely stand out. Isn't the color theme going to be white?"

Kierra frowned as she tucked in for lunch, slightly annoyed at Dominique's ability to read minds. And it wasn't exactly legilimancy either. Kierra was just a very predictable person around her close friends. "So?" Kierra muttered between bites of her sandwich. "It's no big deal. Maybe we'll just coat it with white chocolate frosting or something..."

Dominique merely shrugged and began to start on her own lunch. "So...how do you like the dress for Nora?"

"I actually thought it was pretty--and I'm sure Nora will like it. I'm just going to send her the design and ask for her measurements." Kierra replied, not looking up from her lunch. It wasn't like she was uncomfortable discussing bridesmaid clothes in front of Dominique...it was just...well, actually that _was_ it. She, Kierra, had been Dominique's bridesmaid about seventeen years ago at her wedding, and part of her felt obligated to return the favor. Dominique was one of her closest friends. And Remus was one of Dominique's closest friends...and she had become so involved in helping with the wedding...not to mention the fact that Dominique's legally-ex-husband-but-in-principle-still-a-husband, Sirius, had been killed only two months ago, and she didn't seem completely over it. And to top it off, she had just given up her seat as a violinist in the Parisian orchestra to take a job as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, only to be let off in order to do another job for headmaster Dumbledore: teaching at a muggle prepatory school; the details to which Kierra was not aware of yet. All she knew was that Dominique wasn't particularly pleased about moving into Hogwarts one night and packing and moving out a few nights later. Surely all of that would constitute an obligation to make Dominique part of the wedding party. But then there was Nora. Her niece. Her only niece...well, her only niece that could talk. And they were close, despite the fact that she was 36 and Nora was 15. They still got a long great, and she knew that Nora would have been very hurt if she had not been assigned a big role in the wedding. And Kierra genuinely wanted her to be involved--Nora was one of the few family members Kierra had left. All she really had now was Nora's small family--and they were all to be involved. Her brother Harvey would be giving her away. Nora would be bridesmaid, and Jackie would be flower girl. Fingers crossed, of course. She was just learning how to walk, and her mother Janine was trying to train her to drop flower petals in a steady fashion. So far, it was working out well. Jackie had learned to stop trying to eat the petals and had progressed to dumping the entire basket of rose petals into a heap on the floor.

Well, Dominique had not shown any signs of resentment, and was continuing to be as helpful and considerate as a friend could possibly be. But then again, they were not eighteen anymore. Neither of them were likely to readily throw tantrums for not being made bridesmaids, as Kierra and her friend Lily Potter had done when it was Dominique's turn to choose...

Kierra smiled vaguely as she waved Dominique goodbye at the door of The Leaky Cauldron. They were far from eighteen. Eighteen seemed like a lifetime ago...when Remus was just a sweet, bookworm of a prefect. When Dominique had been the new girl at their school...when Sirius Black was free to walk around in public...when Frank and Alice Longbottom could be seen lurking about in empty corridors, hand in hand...when Lily and James quarreled publicly about the prospects of dating each other... All these memories, all these people...they could now only be looked upon as mere shadows.


	2. Chapter Two: Homeless

Author's Note: There are "Half-Blood Prince" spoilers in this chapter.

Chapter Two: Homeless

Remus Lupin stared down at the parchment laying on his desk, reading it over for the fifth time. Why now? Why, when things were just starting to go right? And why _him_? Remus smiled bitterly as he clamped a hand over the letter and began to fold it back up. He _did_ know why. He knew very well why Dumbledore had chosen _him_ for the mission...and he normally wouldn't have minded it so much...but the fact that it seemed like that was _all_ he was good for...that this was all he could do for the order...it was why he was here in France in the first place, wasn't it? Building relations with his own kind, working with his equals...not that he had accomplished much. In the year that he had lived in Aveyron he had only managed to convince one werewolf of Voldemort's return and to join the good side--only to find out a few weeks ago that the woman had accidentally bitten someone during the last full moon and was now in prison--so much for getting results...

And now Dumbledore wanted him back in Britain to serve the same purpose which would undoubtedly be as unfruitful as his attempts here in France, Remus thought to himself, ignoring the guilty tug of his conscious for feeling bitter. Just then, a pop sounded behind him. Remus turned around to find Kierra in his room, laden with shopping bags, a garment bag, and a large grin.

"You are going to love me in my wedding clothes!" Kierra announced excitedly as she dropped her purchases onto Remus's bed. "Lord, all that shopping and bouquet-throwing has made me tired..."

Momentarily forgetting his letter from Dumbledore, Remus smiled. Well, if there was anyone who could brighten up a dreary mood, it was Kierra. "You _do_ know I already love you without the dress, right?"

Kierra's jaw dropped slightly in surprise, but then she smiled coyly at him. "Remus!"

"Oh!" Remus said when he realized how Kierra had interpreted him. "No, I didn't mean it _that _way..." he said quickly, laughing when he saw the disappointed look on Kierra's face. "I mean...well, you know what I mean..."

Kierra rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know what you _mean_..." she said in a tone that sounded uncannily like Remus's. "Well anyway, it's all good and well that you love me in rags...but you _will_ drop dead when you see me in this dress!"

Remus leaned forward and accepted a kiss from Kierra, who, for someone claimed to be tired, seemed quite renewed in strength as she deepened the kiss into something of lip-lock.

"Dropping dead..." Remus breathed as he pulled away for air. "Happy thought to keep in mind for the upcoming betrothal...and you seem quite proud of your find. I have very high expectations then of you on our wedding."

"Expect away..." Kierra replied, running a finger along the small goatee Remus had recently taken to growing. "And I _am_ a bit cocky about it, aren't I?" she said with a small laugh. "Sorry...I just really loved it...it looked so perfect..."

Remus laughed. "It's alright. Actually"--

"Hey, what's that?" Kierra cut in, looking over Remus's shoulder and pointing at the letter on his desk.

"Oh"--Remus had pulled away entirely of Kierra's embrace and reached for the letter--"letter from Albus..."

"Oh? What'd he say? Is everything alright?" Kierra asked with a note of concern in her voice as she saw the disconcerted look on her fiancé's face.

Remus shrugged. "Yes...everything's fine. But"--he opened the letter and handed it to Kierra and sighed--"well, just read it."

Kierra eyed Remus for a moment before taking the letter. She immediately recognized the headmaster's tiny yet neat handwriting:

_19 August 1996 _

_Dear Remus,_

_You are needed in Britain almost immediately. The work you have been doing for us in France is greatly appreciated, but I want to now ask you to continue this work here in your own country, where, I think I am right to say, the need is much greater since the threat here has recently become much greater. I will be paying you a visit tonight when the sun sets to discuss the details of this with you and Kierra. Yes, I would like her present. Seeing as how this matter will greatly affect her, I will want to get her opinion on this as well. I will send you my usual signal a few minutes before my arrival. Until dusk then._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Kierra glanced up uncertainly at Remus as she handed him back the letter. Did this mean what she thought it meant?

"You're...we're moving back to Britain?" she blurted out. Remus frowned slightly as he looked over the headmaster's letter again.

"I--I'm not sure"--

"But that's not fair!" Kierra exclaimed. "He can't just pick us up and drop us in Britain like that! We live _here_ now"--Kierra paused and took in Remus's countenence. He looked a mix of confusion and annoyance. Why wasn't he as livid as she was? They had lived here for so long now--Kierra's face fell. _She_ had lived her for so long; Remus hadn't. He probably hadn't any intention of staying here either when he first came...probably thinking he would complete whatever task Dumbledore had given him, and go back home...but they had never discussed any plans of moving...

"Remus?" Kierra started tentatively. "We _do_ live here now...I mean...I've been living here for a while now...I'm all settled here...I know you might not feel the same, since you've only been here a year...but"--

"Let's just wait for Dumbledore, shall we?" Remus cut in, in an uncharacteristically curt tone. Replacing the letter in his desk drawer, Remus fell into his chair and sighed, glancing out the window where the sun could be seen hanging in the sky, pouring its light into the room.

Kierra frowned as she watched him, wondering if she had offended him. But then he turned around to face her again, his expression softened considerably.

"I'm sorry..." he said quietly. "I didn't mean"--

"There's no need to apologize for raising your voice a notch..." Kierra said with a small smile. "If you can overlook all the yelling fits I've had in the past, I have no reason to be mad at you...so stop looking so sorry!" she added when he continued to look upon her grievously.

"I just...I don't know how I feel..." Remus said slowly, looking away from Kierra again. "I like it here. I have it better here...almost no one knows I'm a werewolf, I have a steady job and can support us...well, somewhat"--he added with a frown, remembering that he only taught two classes, which hardly brought in enough to pay for rent--"but sometimes I long to go back to England. I guess I never considered the long-run..."

Kierra smiled faintly. "I know how you feel. Well...we don't know for sure what Dumbledore wants. Maybe he doesn't want us to move...he might just want us to go back and forth, like you were doing this year..." Kierra offered.

"Possibly." Remus agreed. He had been about to get up to head to the kitchen to prepare dinner, but stopped as he saw Kierra's eyes widen suddenly. "What?" he asked.

"Your contract!" Kierra exclaimed. "You have a contract with Aveyron Academy! You've got to stay for another year..."

"But"--

"I know I got you the job, but I can't get you out of it if Dumbledore is expecting it...and it'll be damn near impossible to do any magic to alter the contracts, since we're dealing with a wizarding school..." Kierra said.

Remus nodded. "You're right." And after a few moments of silence he continued, "Well...Dumbledore is aware of all the particulars of the situation we're in right now...I suppose he's got it all worked out. There is no point in guessing at what he has stored for us..."

Kierra sighed and got up from Remus's bed, picking up her purchases as she did so. "Right. Well, sun sets around eight, so we've got another hour until he arrives. I suppose some dinner is in order..."

Remus smiled faintly as Kierra made a face. "No worries--I'll take care of dinner."

* * *

Dominique plopped onto the new black sofa she had bought for the new living room and sighed. Finally, she was done unpacking. She had no idea she had owned so much stuff... She looked at the clock. Dumbledore would be on his way to see Kierra and Remus now. Dominique glanced down at her feet and carefully pulled off the feathery red slippers Dumbledore had gotten her as a housewarming gift. So now she was back in Britain...How she felt about it she could neither make heads nor tails. It was nice to have changes in scenes and society, after living in Paris for so long. And to be near Dumbledore again, to be near the order, where she could now serve more purpose...it was more practical to live in London now...

And yet her heart was not here. But she did not leave it in France either...where it had gone off to she had no idea, but one thing was certain: the only flat she could find was two blocks from Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and she found the proximity to be torturous. Well, while she had no idea what her heart longed for, she was certain of why it wasn't _here_. Sirius was gone. Remus and Kierra were in France--many miles from her old house in Paris, but still- they were living in _her_ country...

It was a foolish thought, she knew... Dominique had never even considered Paris as home, even though she spent all but four years of her life there. She had no strong attachments there. She had spent only three years of her life living in Britain, but had come to regard it more as a home than France, though she never really indulged herself completely in that consideration...she never _truly_ regarded Britain as her home either...

_Well, no point dwelling on it, I suppose, _she thought as she got up and headed for her study. _I've got Dumbledore here. He's my family and that's what counts_.

But why wasn't that of any comfort? She had Dumbledore...that should be enough. But it wasn't. Especially when she wasn't particularly pleased with her great-uncle. She had only just settled back in Hogwarts, ready to fill in the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, only to be asked by a sad and regretful-looking Dumbledore if she would mind leaving to take another job that he had in store for her...

_"It's just that we now have a few wizarding familes who now find themselves in great danger of attacks from death eaters, and I've been asked to protect them," Dumbledore said heavily, clearly looking sorry at having to ask Dominique to leave. _

_"Which families?" she forced herself to ask. What rubbish was this--**everyone** was in danger of death eater attacks these days..._

_"You will recall that Madam Amelia Bones was murdered last week"--Dominique nodded and Dumbledore continued--"Well, there is a great fear that her sister Angela Bones and her family will soon be attacked as well."_

_"So they've asked you to protect them?"_

_Dumbledore shook his head. "Just the children. Mr. and Mrs. Bones can protect themselves. It is just the children for whom they are seeking protection. You see, two of their three children are under the age of eleven, and have been attending muggle school. The eldest of them, Miss Susan Bones, is a student at Hogwarts, where I can easily keep an eye on her. The other two however, have no protection in their muggle school. Angela did express a desire to pull them out and have them home-schooled, but she and her husband work full time and would thus find it very difficult to do so. I've done some research and have discovered a that there is an opening in the school for"--_

_"You want me to teach?" Dominique said increduously. "I can't teach!"  
_

_Dumbledore chuckled. "My dear, were you not going to teach at Hogwarts?"_

_"Well that's different! That's magic...I can teach magic...I can't teach muggle stuff! I know nothing of their science...I only know basic mathematics...and you can forget their history..."_

_"Dominique, you need not worry. I think you will be a fine music teacher."_

_At this, Dominique's expression softened considerably, causing Dumbledore to smile. "You're going to have me teach music?"_

_"Yes, of course! I've looked high and low for an accomplished witch or wizard musician who can complete this task for me, but I know no one except you. I wanted you at Hogwarts, but I need you at Eliot"--_

_"Eliot International School?" Dominique asked. "It sounds familiar...is it...is it near Grimmauld Place?"_

_Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, it is. Now, I think you must know which particular students I want you to watch. From the Bones family, there is 5-year-old Larissa and 9-year-old Harold. I also want you to keep an eye on another wizarding child--13-year-old Joseph Shannon. He's a squib, actually, and because of his lack of magical blood, he is not particularly fond of witches and wizards, so please keep that in mind. It's extremely important that you watch them. Amelia Bones was a huge asset to our side, and I think the best we can do for her family is see that her nephew and niece are safe. Same with Joseph. His father, Winston, works for the ministry in the department of magical transportation, and was attacked by Fenrir Greyback a few days ago"--_

_"Fenrir Greyback?" Dominqiue hissed._

_Dumbledore nodded. "It was not during a full moon though, but Mr. Shannon has sustained serious injuries. We now fear that he might prey on his son too, as we well know that Greyback is fond of children in a very disturbing sense."_

_Dominique nodded. "Alright...well, I suppose I should get packing then and look for a new place"--_

_"Leave the packing to me." Dumbledore said. "And I did find a flat near the school for you...all you need to do is go in and sign the lease. And I've already taken care of your teaching certification..."_

_Dominique watched in amazement as Dumbledore produced a thick manila envelope from his robes and handed it to her. "You have a double degree in educational studies and music from University of Oxford, and have been teaching at West Elementary School in the United States for the past fifteen years. You left because the music program was taken out of the school due to budget cuts."_

_"Is that a real school?"_

_Dumbledore smiled. "It will be when they look it up."_

_Dominique shook her head disbelievingly. "You, of all people..."_

_"Well, I must go now, Dominique." Dumbledore said with a smile. "Oh, I almost forgot. The references...Gina and Ted are your former collegues, and Ernie was the headmaster. If they make calls to any of them, I will be playing the role of these characters. Right then. Let me know when you're ready and I'll have you packed up in a wand's wave."_

And now Dominique was starting her first day of class tomorrow. Teaching music to children...she never would have thought...but here she was. She felt a pang of longing for the Hogwarts castle--she had been quite happy to take up the position for defense against the dark arts--but as she grudgingly would admit, life must go on. She only wished though that someone more likeable had gotten the position in her place. Severus Snape, of all people...she did not understand why Dumbledore had switched him out of potions and into defense. It seemed to Dominique that potions was a subject that suited Severus very well...he had always been excellent at the subject, not to mention the dark, dungeon of a classroom suited his personality... But just as well. Dumbledore seemed awfully pleased to get back one of his former staff members out of retirement to teach his old subject, potions. Something Slughorn. Apparently he had retired only a year or two before her own arrival to the school. Dominique vaguely remembered her friend Lily Potter speaking fondly of a professor by that surname. Well, Lily always had high standards, so he must have been good...

As Dominique began flipping through her lesson plans, she heard a knock on the door that pulled her out of her reverie.

"Who is it?" she asked when she reached the door, standing on her toes to look through the eyehole to see who it was. Dominique held back a laugh when she saw it was Kingsley. His bald head looked slightly distorted through the glass of the eyehole.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt, ma'am!"

Dominique undid the locks and opened the door, finding Kingsley Shacklebot standing at her doorway with a small parcel in hand. "Hello Kingsley! Come on in..."

Kingsley smiled as he accepted her invitation and followed Dominique into the flat. "I take it you don't care much for all the precautions the ministry has told everyone to abide by. I was half-expecting you to ask me some bizarre question about yourself...Place looks good by the way."

Dominique smiled back as she shut the door behind her. "Thanks--just finished packing, actually. And I _do_ care for taking precautions. I'll have you know I read that booklet from the ministry from cover to cover. I was just too tired to bother with asking you who my favorite composer was. Anyway, what brings you to this part of town?"

Kingsley laughed. "Well, I _do_ work in this part of town. But what brings me here to your doorstep is this." Kingsley extended the parcel to Dominique, who took it.

"What is this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Kingsley.

He shrugged. "Well...you know how the whole hunt for Sirius has finally gone down the drain...I was just cleaning my cubicle and I thought it was about time to take down all the dozens of photos I had hung up of him..."

Dominique had now torn off the wrapping of the parcel and was now holding a small shoebox. She gingerly pulled off the lid and dumped it on the floor. On the top of the pile was a picture of Sirius at Lily and James's wedding. He was laughing with them, with one hand clasped around James's shoulder, and the other raising his glass at the camera man. Dominique smiled ruefully. He looked a bit drunk.

"Anyway, I...I didn't feel right tossing them out like I normally do when a case is dismissed...but it didn't feel right to keep them either...I just thought you should have them." Kingsley said quietly. His voice was deep and slow, but did not have the confident, reassuring tone it usually had when he spoke.

"Thank you." Dominique said, now turning to a picture that was taken of Sirius during his stay in Azkaban. She glanced up briefly from the pictures though, only to find Kingsley watching her intently. She hastily returned the photos to the box and forced a smile at him. As much as she liked Kingsley, she couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy around him. Him and all other aurors for that matter. They could just look you up and down for a moment and would be able to tell right away if you were feeling uneasy or upset. "Er--would you like to stay for lunch? I was just about to get started on it..." she said, inclining her head towards the kitchen.

"I'd love to, but I've got to run, Dominique." he said as he headed towards the door. "Sorry to be off so suddenly, but old Scrimgeour isn't a patient man. He's hardly an improvement over Fudge if you ask me."

Dominique smiled slightly. "I heard he was suspicious of you with your search for Sirius."

"Yeah...I reckon that's why he doesn't like me much."

Dominique rolled her eyes. "That's stupid...especially since they all know now that he was innocent..."

Kingsley shrugged as he made a grab for the doorknob. "Well, you know how people are...no one likes being wrong..."

Dominique laughed lightly. "This is true...well, it was nice to see you, Kingsley. Do stop by again if you're ever passing through."

Kingsley smiled as he nodded at her. "Will do." And just as he headed out the door, he stopped to look at her over his shoulder. "By the way, for future reference, who _is _your favorite composer? Some dead muggle, no doubt."

"Georges Bizet, who is indeed a dead muggle." Dominique replied with a grin as she waved Kingsley goodbye.

Upon shutting the door, Dominique picked up the lid she had dropped earlier, and upon replacing it on top of the shoebox, she headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch for one.

* * *

"There's the signal!"

Kierra looked up from her book just in time to see a spark of red light shoot through the darkening sky in the window of Remus's room.

"So he'll be here in"--Kierra stopped mid-sentence as she heard a knock on the door--"well, that was quick..."

As Kierra placed a marker in her book and set it on the coffee table, Remus hurried out of his room to the front door. He took a moment to peer into the eyehole of the door to confirm the identity of their visitor before allowing himself to open the door.

"Dumbledore--come in!" Remus said quietly as he indicated for their guest to enter. "Made it alright?"

"Very well, Remus, thank you." Dumbledore replied with a smile as he came upon the threshold, taking a moment to wipe his feet on the doormat before entering properly into the living room. He stood for a moment at its entrance and took in his surroundings. Just then, his eyes fell on Kierra, who had emerged from the bedroom.

"Hey Dumbledore!" she said brightly, coming forward to shake his hand. Dumbledore beamed and took her hand. "How are you?"

"Well enough, my dear." he replied. "Actually, I'm feeling much better than I've been feeling all day, since you addressed me as 'hey Dumbledore'. I can't recall the last time someone's said that to me..."

Kierra blushed. "Oh, sorry"--

Dumbledore waved his hand and smiled. "You shouldn't feel sorry for amusing a tired old man like myself. And actually now that I think of it, I do remember when I was last addressed in that manner. In 1964 by my dear brother..."

When he was met by silence, Dumbledore smiled and continued. "Well, let me first congratulate you two on your engagement. I was extremely pleased to hear about it from your brother, Kierra, though...well, it is with some hesitation I add that he and his wife seemed a little less than excited about bringing me the news."

Kierra laughed. "Yes well, they're alright now, I think. The first few weeks they were in a bit of a state of shock...Oh Dumbledore, please sit down!"

Dumbledore complied and took a seat on the couch in the living room. "Understandable that they would feel so. Well, shall we get down to business then?"

"Of course." Remus said. "Er--can I get you something to drink though?"

"A tall glass of water will do for now, thank you." Dumbledore replied as he scooted over a little to give Kierra room to sit. A moment Remus returned with water for Dumbledore, as well as a goblet of a smoking liquid.

"Sorry, I only just remembered..." Remus said when Kierra raised an eyebrow at him.

"Mundungus is still working his connections to get that made for you then?" Dumbledore asked.

Remus, who had just conjured up a chair from his room and had taken a seat, nodded. "And he has most kindly raised the price on me too. I'm starting to wonder if the wolfsbane is really worth the cost."

"Of course it is!" Kierra exclaimed. "You want to go through all that pain every month?"

Dumbledore smiled ruefully. "Your concern for your fiancé is very touching, Kierra. And it makes it even harder for me to discuss the task I have at hand."

"How so?" Kierra asked, suddenly sitting up straighter. "What have you got planned? Listen, are you going to make us move or something? Because I don't think"--

"Kierra!" Remus hissed.

Dumbledore chuckled as he lifted his glass to take a sip. "Remus, there's no need to keep Kierra's temper in check. I was right then in thinking that you two would presume that I would be making you move back to Britain..."

"So...does that mean we're not moving?" Kierra asked.

Dumbledore shook his head and smiled. "No, of course not. I do remember, Remus, that you are under a magically binded contract here in Aveyron to teach for another year, so of course we cannot break it. No, you won't be moving, but I will be needing you to come to London more often now for this task."

"Am I going to be working with werewolves then?" Remus asked, trying not to let the disappointment show in his voice. He must have failed miserably though, as Dumbledore sighed rather heavily.

"I'm afraid so, Remus. With werewolves all over Britain rallying behind Voldemort, we desperately need someone to infiltrate their community. And though I know we all hate to admit it, you are our best bet." Dumbledore replied. "Can I trust that you'll be up for this?"

Remus sighed resignedly and forced a smile. "Of course. Just how often do you need me back?"

Dumbledore, who had smiled at Remus's consent, now frowned. "Almost around the clock. See, it isn't exactly working with werewolves that I want you to do. More of...well,_ living _with them."

"Hold on," Kierra interrupted, sitting up straight in her seat again. "you want Remus to _live_ with them? Are you crazy?"

"Kierra!"

Dumbledore laughed humorlessly, ignoring Remus's protests. "Some would say so..."

"Seriously though...don't you know how they live? They've got this practically underground community or something...and they're violent! They steal and kill, from what I've heard..." Kierra continued. "Dumbledore, you can't..._he_ can't. Anyway, how would he live amongst them when he's teaching here? You admitted yourself that he has to stay here and work...and the transformations! He'd have to transform with them! You can't make him go through all of that pain..."

Dumbledore nodded and smiled at Kierra regretfully. "I am very well aware of all those things you mentioned, Kierra. But please understand this. We _need _someone there. Especially with Fenrir Greyback on Voldemort's side. He and his other werewolf cronies are attacking people regularly now, and the amounts of bites and deaths will increase exponentially if we don't get someone in there to stop other werewolves from joining Voldemort's ranks. As to the matter of Remus being in two places at once, this is where I need your cooperation, Kierra. You have a significant amount of influence at your school. It was you who managed to get Remus the job without a screening process, without having him register here as a werewolf...it's all proven to be very useful. But now what I really need you to do is to see that Remus is put on some sort of break from teaching. He'll remain employed at the school, of course, and will make appearances every now and then, but he won't be teaching any classes. Can you do that?"

Kierra sighed and after a moment of thinking replied, "Yes, I can. I can have him take off to do research. But he definitely has to be at the school a few times a month--I have a few students working with him on their independent studies."

"Is there any way you could arrange for them to work under another professor?" Dumbledore asked.

Kierra shrugged. "I don't know...everyone's plates are pretty full. Maybe I could take them..."

"Kierra, you're going to be teaching four classes _and_ you have half a dozen of your own kids to supervise in independent research projects. You'll kill yourself from the work load if you take on my students as well." Remus said immediately, and then turning to Dumbledore he added, "it's alright. I'm sure I'll be able to get away for a few hours every couple weeks to tend to the school's affairs."

Dumbledore smiled. "Thank you very much, both of you. I know I'm asking for a very huge favor from both of you, as there's almost nothing crueler than to tear two loving people away from each other. I just hope it'll be of short duration. The more the werewolves get to trust you, Remus, the easier it'll be to get away from them to come here."

"Of course." Remus replied, looking determinedly at his hands.

"Er, Dumbledore...how long do you think this will go on for though?" Kierra asked suddenly. "Remus and I are getting married in June..."

"My dear, I cannot say how long something like this will take, but even if it does continue on in the summer, rest assured we'll find a way to marry you and Remus." Dumbledore replied. He glanced up at Remus, who was still looking at his hands.

"You are not happy with me, Remus, I know."

Remus looked up immediately. "Oh, no"--

But Dumbledore waved his hand dismissively yet again. "I've known you since you were eleven so I think I can say with some confidence that I know a displeased Remus when I see one. And I am sincerely sorry that I have to put you through this. I really am. I know I've been putting several order members through quite a bit lately, and I do sometimes feel guilty about it. But believe me Remus, when I say that I would not have assigned this task to you if I didn't think you could do it."

Remus's countenence softened slightly as he sighed. "Right. I know..."

"Is there something else though?" Dumbledore asked.

"No...nothing of importance..."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at Remus. "I'm not sure why people try to conceal things from me when they know I am an accomplished legilimens. You think the only thing I find you useful for is working with werewolves, am I right?"

Remus did not answer. He felt Kierra's eyes on him, and he couldn't stand to share glances with her, not now. Not when they were talking about _this_...

Dumbledore smiled. "You could have done countless things for the order, Remus, but the jobs I gave you...only _you_ could have done them. And besides, working with werewolves wasn't the only thing I had intended for you when I sent you here to France."

"Sorry?" Remus asked, feeling suddenly nervous. It wasn't? Had he some other task that he completely neglected?

"You never asked me why I wanted to send you to France, Remus."

"Well, you told me why you wanted me there. The werewolves"--

Dumbledore shook his head. "But why France? Why not one of our other neighbors, like Belgium, whose werewolf population is about equal in size to France?"

"Er"--

Dumbledore smiled somewhat knowingly as he got up. He pat Kierra on the shoulder, glancing at Remus as he did so. Their eyes met, and Dumbledore winked, taking Remus quite by surprise. He couldn't recall ever seeing his former headmaster wink... But then he understood it.

"You didn't..."

Dumbledore let go of Kierra's shoulder and made his way around the coffe table. "I did. Now, I smell a delicious meatloaf in the kitchen, so if I could be so bold as to invite myself over to stay for dinner..."

Kierra laughed as she followed Dumbledore into the kitchen, clearly not aware of what Dumbledore's patting her on the shoulder signified. "We were going to invite you to stay anyway...Have a seat. Let me get some wine"--

"Oh, no don't trouble yourself. I've already brought some, see?"

As Remus followed Kierra and Dumbledore into the kitchen he saw the latter wave his wand and produce a bottle of wine out of thin air. And as they sat down to dinner, Remus couldn't help but let his mind wander to the day that Dumbledore had told him he would be sent to work in France. It had been over a year ago, but he could remember his words, plain as day.

"_...You see, the woman whom I was speaking about will take care of that, as she is a respected professor there. Of course, we don't want to jeopardize her position at the school by doing anything fraudulent, so you will go through an honest interviewing process, but she assured us that a position for you there is almost guaranteed, given your teaching experience and expertise in defense arts."_

_Remus had nodded. "Great…when do I get started? And er…who is this woman exactly?"_

"_Day after tomorrow, she will meet you at 4 o'clock at the school, which is conveniently by the Inn you'll be staying at for the first night. The reservations have already been taken care of, and Ms. Nakofsky will inform you of the details of task."_

_Remus sat up straighter in his seat. "Nakofsky?" he had sputtered. "Kierra?"_

_Dumbledore had then smiled. "Well, she was right in saying you'd remember her. I owe her a few galleons then …Very well, next order of business…"_

Dumbledore had remembered Kierra and had somehow known what she had meant to him. And it was because of Dumbledore that he got to see her again after sixteen years...

"Well," Dumbledore said cheerily as he raised his goblet. "To a long and happy marriage, that will undoubtedly be filled with love that is more tender than the world's best meatloaf, and with more warmth than the wooliest socks I own."

Kierra and Remus sniggered at this toast, but raised their goblets as well. And as Remus drank, his glance met Dumbledore's, whose eyes were twinkling behind his pair of half-moon shaped spectacles.


	3. Chapter Three: Amongst Equals

_Author's Note: First off, I'd like to apologize for take a ridiculously long time to update (well, a long time relative to the frequency with which I update :P ) but I did move recently, and to date still don't have internet in my apartment. Plus, school has started and I think I've bitten off more than I can chew with the school work...lol so ok, those are my excuses. I should take this opportunity to also mention that it seems the only time I'll ever be able to work on my stories is on the weekends. Taking that, and the fact that I'm working on two stories right now into account, you can probably see that it'll be hard for me to update as often as I used to...sorry, but that's the way the cookie crumbles/ _

_Another thing I want to mention, to any of you who are reading this story, but haven't read its prequel, "Last Mile", you'll understand this chapter perfectly fine without reading LM, but in order to appreciate this chapter, and more specifically the next chapter, I would suggest reading the prequel. There are a few characters that are introduced in that story who are seen again here, and while they aren't wholly important to the plot, it would help to know their backstories... ;)_

_ Last thing I waned to mention, there were some queries regarding the whole Tonks deal that we saw in HBP...I just want to let you know now that while I want to keep this story as canon as possible, I will not be incorporating that part of HBP into my story, as it would completely interrupt the main plot. But don't get too comfortable--there are other ways to break up a happy Remus/Kierra ship than Tonks. ;)  
_

Chapter Three: Amongst Equals

Dominique sighed frustratedly as she flipped through the channels of her wireless radio set from her seat on the couch. Not a single good song was playing tonight...Finally, after going through every channel twice, Dominique tapped her wand on the wireless set to turn it off. She then pointed her wand in the direction of the bathroom and muttered "accio". A bottle of blue salts came flying out of the bathroom a moment later. Upon catching it, Dominique uncorked the lid and poured a generous amount of salts in the small tub she was soaking her feet in. She then pointed her wand at the tub, and with a swish and flick, reheated the tub of water. Dominique leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of the salts dissolving around her feet. She wondered if she had to do this every day upon coming back from work. Perhaps she should invest in more comfortable shoes--stiletto heels weren't as serviceable in the classroom as they were in the concert hall, where she had always worked sitting down. She could go shopping tonight for a few pairs of comfortable flats. She needed to buy some more clothes for work anyway--she had been reprimanded by the headmaster for not dressing "conservatively and properly to represent the values of the school."

_As if there's anything improper about wearing a tube top with capris... she thought. Yet the headmaster, Jonathan Stable, disapproved anyway and had forced her to wear a very ugly white cardigan sweater with Christmas trees and candy canes printed on it that had apparently belonged to the headmaster's wife. _

"Scourgify!"

Dominique lifted her wet and now very pruny feet out of the cleaned out tub and set them down on the towel she had spread out on the carpet. As she began to pat her feet dry, Dominique heard a knock at the door. Pushing her towel aside, she got up and went to the door. But before she could so much as get on her toes to peep through the eyehole in the door, Dominique's visitor began calling behind the door.

"It's me, Kingsley Shacklebolt--Open up, you Georges Bizet lover!"

Dominique beamed as she opened the door, finding Kingsley waiting for her with a white box in hand.

"Kingsley, hello!"

Kingsley grinned back as he let himself into Dominique's flat. "Proud of me for remembering the answer to your question?" he asked.

Dominique laughed. "You didn't even let me ask you--but yes, thank you. I'm prodigiously proud of you for remembering my favorite composer. Now, what can I do for you?" she asked.

"Oh, well...I was just coming from the Burrow and Molly gave me this cheese cake"--he said, holding up the box in his hand--"she made too much. We were expecting Moody and Tonks to come as well, but they both got busy with other stuff for the order. So Molly gave me the pie that Tonks would've probably eaten single handedly. I believe you like cheese cake, so I thought I'd just pop over and give it to you." he finished, handing the box to Dominique, whose face brightened considerably when she took it.

"Right you are! Tonks isn't the only one who can single handedly eat an entire cheesecake." Dominique replied.

Kingsley cocked an eyebrow at her as he let out a chuckle. "You don't say!"

Dominique led Kingsley over to the kitchen where she placed the box on the table and proceeded to open it. "What? I'm serious! Just don't tell anyone...gluttony isn't very becoming of me."

"I'll take this secret to the grave, I will." Kingsley replied solemnly, putting his right hand to his heart.

Dominique laughed. "You're a good man, Kingsley. Want some?" she asked, cutting out a rather large slice of cheese cake and putting it on a plate.

"No, no...I'm very full already from Molly's dinner, and this pie is all for you. I don't want to deprive you. Anyway, I must be on my way. Have to relieve Tonks from her post."

"Oh?" Dominique said, looking up from her pie. "Where's Scrimgeour assigned her?"

"Hogsmeade...because you know, that place is a breeding ground for death eaters..." Kingsley replied sarcastically.

Dominique laughed. "Well, I suppose it's good for when the Hogwarts students go there...they can use the protection."

"True, true." Kingsley replied. "Oh, by the way, how's the job going? I heard you started today..."

"Yes, it went well, I think. I met the Bones' children and told them I was a witch that was looking out for them, gave them the whole pep talk and stuff...they were nice kids." said Dominique.

"Well, that's good. Alright--I'm out. I want to get out to Hogsmeade and get myself decently hidden before the moon comes out." Kingsley said as he craned his neck slightly to look through the window in Dominique's living room that afforded a view of the reddish orange sun that was dipping in the horizon. At the mention of the moon though, Kingsley saw the change in Dominique's countenence. He noticed that tended to happen automatically when the full moon was mentioned in front of order members. Everyone's mind seemed to automatically go to Remus, and it was very clear that this was currently the case for Dominique. She frowned slightly and her brows furrowed in obvious apprehension.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Remus will be alright." Kingsley said soothingly, putting his hand on Dominique's shoulder.

"But...I don't think he's ever transformed around other werewolves...what if they hurt him?" she asked, looking up at him earnestly.

Kingsley laughed. "From what Sirius had told me, Remus gets pretty mean and tough under the influence of a full moon. I'm sure he can take care of himself." he replied as he made his way to the door.

"But"--Dominique continued to look worried as she followed Kingsley to the door--"there'll be female werewolves around him, right? I mean, what if he...you know..." she said, letting her voice trail off in hopes that Kingsley would catch on.

"Oh! I never thought of that..." Kingsley said as he scratched his chin thoughtfully, considering the matter. "He wouldn't have any control over himself , would he?" Dominique shook her head. "Well, I'm sure he, Kierra and Dumbledore have considered all of this...they probably have some precautions ready to take. Anyway, don't worry about it. He wouldn't be accidentally cheating on you if he did anything...It's Kierra that should be worried..."

Dominique did not seem satisfied with this response, judging by the worried look that lingered in her eyes. Nonetheless, she opened the door for Kingsley and saw him out.

"Kierra..." she muttered quietly as she shut the door when Kingsley left. Kierra would be alone tonight too, Dominique realized as she headed back to the kitchen for her dessert. Remus would be in Britain right now, living amongt the werewolves--transforming with them in an hour or so--and Kierra would probably not sleep soundly tonight in her own worry for Remus's welfare. Tonight, she and Kierra would be on the same boat--tired, alone and wary--but tomorrow morning, Kierra would have her Remus back, and Dominique would continue on her boat alone...

* * *

"_Burning the ground! I break from the crowd! I'm on the hunt I'm after you!"_

Remus let out a small groan, shrinking back into the warmth of his pilows and blankets at the sounds coming from the kitchen. _Why? _Why did she love singing so much? He winced at the sound of pots and pans crashing against each other, though not loud enough to drown out Kierra's very off-key singing.

"_I smell like I sound, I'm lost and I'm found! And I'm hungry like the wolf!"_

Remus sat up in bed, his ears perking up to hearing the word 'wolf'. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he dragged himself out of bed, reminding himself that Kierra was probably just in a good mood this morning and for that he should rejoice in her singing, but he was overcome with the feeling of slight resentment at the obvious fact that Kierra didn't seem to realize that the full moon had only passed hours ago, leaving Remus feeling weak and sick, and would certainly not be in the mood to hear her sing muggle songs on a Monday morning.

Kierra grinned broadly as Remus stumbled into the kitchen. She waved her wand at the stove and a pan of eggs flew across the kitchen and landed on the table.

"_Strut on a line, it's discord and rhyme! I'm on the hunt, I'm after you!" Kierra sang rather loudly as she caught Remus by the hand and pulled him into the kitchen._

"Kierra, we have neighbors, you know..." Remus muttered in response as he allowed himself to be dragged into the kitchen for breakfast.

"Shut up, Remus. Let me enjoy myself!" Kierra snapped. And without warning she threw her arms around Remus's neck and led him in an awkward two-step. She couldn't dance particularly well either. _"Mouth is alive with juices like wine! And I'm hungry like the wolf_"--

"_Kierra!"_

"I'm done, I'm done!" Kierra huffed, pushing Remus away and shoving him into a chair. "God, Remus! You're such a crab..."

Remus looked up at her as she dropped his breakfast in front of him. She didn't look in the least perturbed; on the contrary, she looked very pleasant--well, more pleasant than she usually did on a Monday morning--and resolving to take advantage of her good mood, Remus pouted at her. "I have plenty of reason to be crabby."

Kierra cocked an eyebrow at him as she took a seat across from him at the kitchen table. "Because of the moon? I thought it's not so bad when you've got other wolves to keep you company..."

"The night wasn't bad...I had company so I didn't feel tempted to bite or scratch myself, but still...the transformations are pretty painful..."

Kierra looked onto him with an expression mixed of amusement and sympathy. "Poor you..."

Remus nodded solemnly as he took a sip of coffee. "Yes, poor me...and then you left me alone in that forsaken bed to listen helplessly to your singing. You're supposed to stay at my bedside, taking care of me..."

Kierra laughed. "Well, you didn't look too bad when you came back this morning, and you slept pretty well, so I thought you didn't need my attention..."

"I'll _always_ need your attention." Remus said with an extravagent sigh.

Kierra rolled her eyes, though she smiled behind the cover of her newspaper. "Is that so?"

Knowing that Kierra was hiding a smile behind her newspaper, Remus couldn't help but grin. "So, uh...what time do you have to be at the school?" he asked.

"In a few minutes" she replied as she took a sip of coffee, "I'm going to apparate over as soon as I'm done with breakfast. You know"--she added after pausing to take another sip--"the students really miss you. Jean-Benoit said the other day he would've signed up for his independent research with you if he had known you weren't going to be teaching any classes this term..."

Remus chuckled. Jean-Benoit. For an overage wizard, he was quite obnoxious and immature. But Remus liked him anyway for his light-heartedness and his ability to make everyone in the class, including Remus, laugh during every lesson...

Kierra got up after a few minutes and sent her dirty dishes to the sink with a wave of her wand. "Ok, I'm going to go now," she said, turning to Remus as she summoned her briefcase from their bedroom. "Now, are you _sure_ you have to go back to England today? I mean, you only got back a few hours ago..."

Remus smiled. "I'm sure I have to go. Dumbledore will be wanting to see me"--

"Well come back as soon as you're done..." Kierra cut in.

"By the time I'm done and ready to come back here, you'll probably be fast asleep here." Remus replied. "I think I'll come back tomorrow morning. That way I can get some rest too...I mean...so I'm wide awake to spend plenty of time with you!" he added quickly, smiling wearily at Kierra, who rolled her eyes at him in response.

"Fine. Go. Have tea with Dumbledore. Have some drinks with Hagrid"--

"I'm not going out there for a good time, Kierra"--

"And go see Dominique too, I reckon she's bored over there"--

"Kierra, you're making me feel bad..." Remus said earnestly as he stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Kierra closed her eyes and smiled as she felt his nose brush against her cheek. "Good. You _should_ feel bad. I only get to see you a few hours a week these days, you know. I reckon even that Greyback gets to see more of you than I do."

"If it helps, I only get to see you a few hours a week, too." Remus said as he lean over Kierra's shoulder to kiss her on the cheek.

"That doesn't help."

"I'm Sorry."

"I know you are."

"Have fun at work."

"I intend to. I have a pop quiz planned for today."

Remus laughed. "That's cruel. Not like you at all."

Kierra grinned. "Well, I did tell them all at the start of term that I reserve the right to give pop quizzes, and that I'd do it if I saw that people were skipping too often...and attendance has gone down this past week..."

"Fair enough." Remus replied. "Well, go to work. I'll probably be going in a few hours to meet Dumbledore"--

"Hey, I just realized...how come you always have to go to him?" Kierra cut in. "How come he can't come here"--

"Oh, we're not going to start your Dumbledore-bashing...just go, Kierra."

Kierra rolled her eyes again as she picked up her briefcase. "Don't get your panties in a knot..."

"How did you know I was wearing your panties?" Kierra looked at him expectantly and Remus laughed. "I'm kidding. Go."

"I love you too..." Kierra muttered.

"Your class started five minutes ago, Kierra."

Kierra looked at her watch and swore under her breath. "Great. Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Remus nodded. "Then get plenty of sleep. You're spending every minute of the day with me!"

"Yes ma'am." And Remus raised his hand to salute her just as she disapparated out of their flat.

* * *

Kierra groaned as she sifted through the papers in her briefcase for the third time. She had forgotten their exams at home. She had promised them that today she'd give them back their exams and go over all the answers...

"Professor Nakofsky, did you forget to bring our exams?" she heard the voice of George Basseon ask.

"Hey, are you still going to be Professor Nakofsky when you get married?" asked Jean-Benoit.

Kierra finally shut her briefcase and sighed. "Yes to both questions." she replied. There was a collective groan from the class, and Kierra raised her hands up to silence them. "I'm sorry! I'll bring them in tomorrow, alright?"

"Does Professor Lupin mind?" continued Jean-Benoit. Kierra turned to him looking puzzled.

"Sorry? Oh! No, he doesn't mind that I'm keeping my name..."

"Professor, who do you think is a better teacher? You or him?" Jean-Benoit continued, looking at Kierra very seriously--too seriously to actually be serious. "I mean, I was just thinking about how you were criticizing him the other day..."

Kierra rolled her eyes. "I was hardly criticizing him. I just said he's too easy on you guys..."

"So you think you're a better professor than him?" Jean-Benoit asked, grinning. Honestly, what was the guy up to?

"I never said that...though I suppose I am better than him..." Kierra said with a laugh. "I'm kidding!"

"Sure you are..."

Kierra nearly jumped. She turned around to find Remus standing inside the classroom, leaning against the wall with a bundle of papers under his arm, and smiling. Kierra felt her cheeks burn pink as she heard the class laugh. She immediately turned on Jean-Benoit. "I hope you did your reading for today, because I am going to be picking on you a lot in this lesson..."

Jean-Benoit's smile fell slightly as his hand dove forward into his bag to pull out his book, and a moment later he was deeply immersed in the chapter they were to have read for the day's lesson.

"I just stopped by to bring you your exams." Remus said as he handed Kierra the stack of papers, "You left them on the nightstand..."

"Oh! Thanks"--

Remus waved his hands in front of her and bowed his head down. "No, no...thank _you_, oh superior one..."

Kierra scowled at him. "You're not funny."

"I thought that was pretty amusing!" Horatio Francois cut in.

Remus couldn't help but smile when he saw the annoyed look on Kierra's face. "Well, I've done my job. I'm off now."

"Right. See you..."

"Hey, aren't you going to kiss her goodbye, Professor Lupin?"

Remus turned around to see Jean-Benoit, whose short attention span caused him to abandon his reading in order to meddle some more with his professors' personal lives. He (and the rest of the class, for that matter) was looking at him rather expectantly. Great. Now what was he to do? Say no, and look like a heartless fiance, or say yes and kiss Kierra in front of the entire class... Of course, he didn't mind doing the latter...but certainly not in front of the whole class...it was not their business to watch...

"Of course he was...Just not in front of you lot!" Kierra said, heading towards the door and pulling Remus along with her. Remus wasn't sure if he was grateful to her or even more embarrassed, as now there were many ooohs and aaahs stirring about the room as he was hurried out of the room.

"And we're having a quiz on today's reading when I'm back!" Kierra called after them before she shut the door behind her.

"How on earth do you get away with these things?" Remus asked as Kierra wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him closer to her.

She giggled. "I did a lot of sucking up when I first started here...gives me plenty of leverage nowadays..."

Remus cocked an eyebrow at her. "You'd make quite a politician, you know..."

Kierra laughed. "Shut up. You're supposed to kiss me goodbye..."

"Right. Sorry..."

"We're alone now, you know..." Kierra whispered when Remus kissed her lightly on the lips. She leaned forward and kissed him again.

Remus savored her kiss for a few moments, but then pulled away. "You'll be giving your class ideas if you're away too long..."

Kierra laughed. "Too late. They've probably all got their ears pressed up against the door right now..."

At Kierra's words, the shuffling of many feet and sliding of chairs could be heard from the other side of the wall, and the two of them laughed.

"I think it's time you went back in..." Remus said as he took a hold of Kierra's hands and removed them from around his neck. Kierra smiled but shook her head.

"Too soon to go back in..."

"Too soon?" Remus repeated.

"Yeah...when I go back in they'll all snigger and smirk, and I'll shut them up by saying I had to talk to you about something. But more time needs to elapse out here in order for that to be believable..."

Remus laughed. "I think enough time has elapsed for you to have had a brief conversation..."

Kierra frowned at him. "Do you not want to stay out here or something?"

"Of course I'd like to...but we each have our things to do..."

"Fine. Go." Kierra said curtly.

"You're not being fair..." Remus said.

"Neither are you." Kierra replied. "Dumbledore's probably waiting for you. Go."

Remus looked onto Kierra, who was looking at the ground. She wasn't frowning, but she wasn't smiling either. Remus sighed, and using his index finger to lift Kierra's chin up, he leaned forward and kissed her again. She however, did not respond as she normally did.

"Kierra, you know I _have_ to go." he said quietly. "I don't like to, but I have to. And I always miss you."

"Prove it."

Remus smiled slightly, knowing exactly what she was trying to do. "Fine. Come here." he said, though he did not wait for her to come. Instead he put one hand around her waist and slid the other over her shoulder blade as he pushed her gently against the wall and kissed her. And he was going to make sure it was satisfactory to her. He pressed on until he felt her respond, which only took her an instant to do. She raised one hand and wrapped it around his neck, drawing him closer. He should pull away now, he knew...but Kierra had opened her mouth slightly and was urging him on with her tongue. He gave in and pressed on, pulling away only once for air.

"You're very clever when it comes to getting what you want..." he breathed as he rested his forehead against her jaw, kissing her neck as he did so. Kierra let out a small laugh, and the vibrations going through her neck tickled his mouth...stimulated his mouth. Suddenly, kissing her wasn't enough. Remus closed his eyes as he inhaled her scent. He had no idea what the scent was--if it was perfume or her natural scent--but it was _her_. He opened his mouth slightly and let his teeth brush against her skin. It tasted so good. He needed more...

As he pressed his teeth a bit harder against her, Remus came back to his senses. He could feel Kierra's heavy breathing, and he was suddenly aware of how close he was to her flesh. Remus immediately pulled away, feeling slightly queasy. He could still taste her...

"Go to class..." he breathed.

Kierra did not protest this time. She simply nodded and headed back to her classroom.

* * *

Oh, what he would do to be back in France again, perhaps in Kierra's arms, or under the covers of his bed...anywhere but here. He was at fellow werewolf Walter Leiman's house--well, it was sort of a house...It was only one room and had half of the roof missing, and didn't have any windows that weren't smashed up...but it still constituted as a house. They were dining on bread, chicken and chocolate frogs--some grocery items Walter had stolen from a shopper in Diagon Alley.

"I got me another Dumbledore..." Walter muttered as he ripped open another chocolate frog package. "Got me 'bout ten of those..." and with that, he tossed it into a corner of his one-room house, where he had already accumulated a small stack of cards of famous witches and wizards.

Dumbledore. It was he who had made Remus come here. They had met for lunch to discuss his progress with the werewolves, and when Remus had mentioned he would stay then night in London, Dumbledore took the opportunity to ask him to pay a visit to another werewolf in the area, who had been bitten only months ago by Fenrir Greyback, the same man who had bitten Remus when he was a child. Walter was apparently still within reach of being saved from the claws of Greyback and Voldemort, and Dumbledore thought it was imperitive that he be worked on...

"So...Walter, you haven't heard from your wife, have you?" Remus asked, almost dreading the answer.

Walter spat on the floor. "No."

"Oh..."

"I'm tellin' you...that old bitch isn't coming back to me...took my kids and ran for good...she don't trust me no more..."

"Er...well...have you thought about why?" Remus asked.

Walter looked up at Remus as he tore open another package of chocolate, allowing the frog inside to take a leap off the table and out the window. Walter however, did no notice his lost dinner. "What do you mean, why? Honestly Remus, you are the thickest of our kind I've ever met...I'm a bloody werewolf now! She don't trust me! Thinks I'd go bite our kids' heads off first chance I get..."

"But you wouldn't do that..." Remus said earnestly. "Would you?"

Walter laughed. "Course not! I'd bite my wife's head off if anyone's...I gots nothing against me children, for God's sake..."

Remus sighed. Well, lack of desire to bite his children was a good thing, right? Clearly he wasn't as bad as Greyback. "I don't know..." Remus started slowly, hoping this discussion wouldn't turn into a physical fight as discussions with werewolves tended to lead to. "Maybe...maybe it wasn't that..."

"Yeah?" Walter asked gruffly, looking threateningly at Remus as he took a swig of firewhiskey.

"Well...how long did Maria and the kids stay with you after you got bitten?" Remus asked.

"A month. And let me tell you, twas a hell of a month it was...never thought I could hate a person so much...the way she'd look at me, like I was the scum of the earth, just because I wasn't human anymore..."

"Walter, you are a human. You'll always be a human"--

"Bullocks!" Walter spat. "I know what I am, and I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not like you, Remus. I can admit to people I'm a werewolf, and I don't give a damn. If witches and wizards don't like it, they can sod off. They think they're better than everyone else"--

"Not all of them do, Walter..." Remus said gently. "I mean, yes, the majority of them think that...but not all of them do."

"Well, the ones that don't think that don't count. They're all a bunch of nobodies without power anyway." Walter replied.

"You think Dumbledore's a nobody?" Remus asked.

Walter cocked an eyebrow at Remus, then glanced over at his pile of wizarding cards in the corner of the room. He turned back to Remus, still looking a bit skeptical. "That old crackpot? He"--

"He's not a crackpot." Remus said, gritting his teeth. "You know his name. Everyone knows his name. And people either respect it or fear it."

"Fear it?"

"Yeah, like...Vol--I mean, you-know-who. He's always been scared of Dumbledore's name." Walter said nothing to this, so Remus continued. "He considers our kind as humans...he respects us..."

"Codswallop." Walter muttered.

"But"--

"Please, Remus. He's a bull-shitter. I've heard him talk. He goes on and on about our rights and goblin rights and the rights of every beast on this planet, but has anything ever changed?"

"You can't change the world over night..." Remus replied.

"Yeah, but what's old Dumbledore doing for us? He talks the talk, but he don't walk the walk!"

"He does." Remus said, trying to keep his voice even. As much as he had been annoyed with his former headmaster for the amount of work he was giving him, Remus could not stand to hear him being insulted either. "He let me into Hogwarts when I was a kid. Did you know that? I was already a werewolf by then, and he let me in..."

"Yeah?" Walter asked, his own voice becoming more civil. "He let you in Hogwarts? Christ, a few years ago I don't think I'd have let me kids into that school if I knew a werewolf was there."'

"A few years ago there was a werewolf there." Remus said. "Dumbledore hired me to teach a few years back."

Walter swore. "He let you teach?"

"Yeah..."

"Did he pay you a lot?"

"As much as everyone else..." Remus replied.

"So why'd you go?" Walter asked, now forgetting about his meal altogether.

"Well..." Remus shifted uncomfortably in his seat. It was common knowledge that werewolves--well, Greyback and his followers--didn't like wolfsbane potion because it supposedly weakened the werewolf by killing the wolf inside. "Well, see...some kids came outside one night when I was transforming, and I almost bit them..." Remus said said simply. Well, it was true...wasn't it? He just didn't need to mention that it was because he had forgotten to take his potion that night.

"So he fired you?" Walter asked angrily.

Remus shook his head. "I resigned. There were three children out there...I could have hurt them badly, even killed them...and that was mental torture for me. And I probably would have been forced to leave anyway. I knew parents were going to complain and the ministry would intervene...and I didn't want Dumbledore to risk any more for me than he already had, so I wouldn't let him fight for me. So I just quit."

"You just quit?" Walter asked, looking positively astonished.

"Er...yeah..." Remus replied.

"What are you, stupid or something?" Walter asked.

"Excuse me?"

"You had a nice, cushioned job and everything, and you just quit it, because you were afraid of everyone? I'm over here stealing for me meals, and...and you...you left a good job...no one had made you..."

"They would have made me if I didn't step down anyway..."

"So? You should've fought for your spot! Damn, Lupin...no wonder Greyback is so against you..."

"What?" Remus asked, sitting up. Greyback knew him? By name? Sure they had seen each other a few times while in the company of other werewolves, but had never really addressed each other. In fact, Remus had up until now been quite sure that Fenrir did not recognize him as John Lupin's son, the boy whom he had bitten many years ago for the sake of punishing Remus's father...

"Damn. Don't think I was supposed to say anything." Walter muttered as he tore off a chunk of bread for himself.

"What's he got against me?" Remus asked, though he knew quite well why Greyback wouldn't like him if he actually knew him...but did he know Remus? And how much did he know of his past, and of his current plans with the order?

Walter shrugged. " Too much of a wizard, I suppose..."

"What kind of rubbish is that?" Remus asked. "We're all wizards! We can all do magic..."

"No, you know what I mean...you're too much like _them_...not enough like us...you dress like 'em...got their morals and values and things..."

"They're our morals and values too." Remus said. "Stealing and killing are things no one should do, no matter what kind of being you consider yourself."

Walter shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just telling you what Fenrir thinks. I don't have much against you. You're a nice guy, Remus. You're a bit stupid and cowardly, and you've got a woman--which I gotta admit I can't help but be a bit jealous of"--

"What?" Remus asked sharply.

"Yeah, old Greyback told me you've got a girlfriend...so...she don't mind you being a werewolf?" Walter asked.

"Course not...how does Greyback know about her?" Remus asked.

Walter shrugged. "He makes it his business to know about all of the werewolves around here...so...does uh...what's your woman's name?"

"Oh--uh--Karen."

"Karen? Nice name. She got any sisters?"

Remus shook his head, forcing a laugh when Walter smiled sheepishly. They spent the rest of the afternoon drinking firewhiskey, arguing over the ethics of biting one's significant other to turn them into a werewolf.

* * *

"Janine, I think I know my sister! She would love this!" Harvey Nakofsky said loudly enough to attract the attention of several customers in the vicinity. He held out a lime green octagonal shaped vase in order to examine it in the light. "I mean, I know it's ugly, but you know Kierra...she's the eclectic sort...likes her art weird..."

"I know Kierra as well as you do, Harvey." Janine snapped as she bounced their one year old daughter, Jackie, on her hip. "She may like it, but it's Remus's flat too, and this is a present for both of them. I'll bet you he won't like it..."

Harvey set the vase down, muttering something about never liking Remus anyway. Janine rolled her eyes and she led her husband out of the aisle of vases. "You know they've been living there for like, forever. I don't see why we have to get something grand anyway. I'm sure a cake and a bouquet of flowers would do perfectly fine."

"Kierra's allergic to some flowers..." Harvey replied.

"Well, which kinds?" Janine asked impatiently.

"That's the problem...I can't remember."

Janine rolled her eyes once again, causing her daughter to giggle. "Come on. Let's just get a fruit basket..."

"Oh, and a big box of chocolate too! We can get that from Honeydukes..." Harvey chimed in." I just remembered Kierra saying once that Remus loves chocolate..."

"I thought you said you didn't like Remus..." Janine said as they stepped out of Gifts 'n' Gobstones and headed in the direction of Honeydukes.

"I like him." Harvey snapped. "I just don't like him proposing to my little sister after dating her for just a month."

"They had gone out for a year before..." Janine reminded him.

"When they were in school!" Harvey replied. "That was a long time ago..."

"Well, I don't know how much time you want to assign to the duration of their courtship, but it wasn't as short as a month. They weren't starting from scratch, you know..."

"I know...but still..."

"Remus isn't Edmund."

Harvey quickly turned away from Janine so she wouldn't see the bitter look on his face. Whether or not Remus was anything like Kierra's previous fiance was yet to be seen...

"Remus would never hurt Kierra. He only has eyes for her." Janine said, practically reading her husband's mind. "Come on, Harvey...you liked Remus perfectly fine before. Just because he proposed to Kierra doesn't mean he's going to grow horns over his head and raise hell...you know he's a good guy. He loves Kierra...and it's very clear that Kierra is crazy about him..."

"See, that's the problem...she was crazy about Edmund too!" Harvey replied. "She's crazy about anyone she dates...always thinks the guy she's with is 'the one'. How do we know Remus is the right one for her?"

"Because I say so." Janine said wearily as she wrapped one arm tightly around her baby and another around her husband to drag him down the streets of Hogsmeade. "Because she says so!"

"She could be wrong..." Harvey argued. "She said Edmund was right for her too..."

"So you don't trust her judgement?" Janine asked, smiling wryly at her husband.

"Of course I trust her! I just...I'm..."

"Too overprotective?" Janine suggested.

"Am not!"

Janine laughed. "You are _so_ overprotective. You're overprotective of all women..."

"Am not..."

"Then why isn't Nora allowed to date until she's twenty?"

"Because! By then the boys will be men, and they'll be mature enough to take care of Nora properly..."

"Remus is 34...I think he's mature enough..."

Harvey sighed. "Nevermind. We're not getting anywhere in this discussion...let's just buy the gifts and go home...you'll never understand where I'm coming from, Janine. You've never been and never will be and older brother. You've never even had an older brother."

"And for that I'm extremely grateful. You are by far enough. I don't need any other males to take care of..." Janine muttered.

Harvey grumbled as he held the door of Honeydukes open for his wife and daughter, but did not argue further. The truth was, he really did like Remus Lupin. He knew the man was good and that he loved Kierra. But still...he was marrying his sister...pledging to take care of her and be responsible for her...the last man that did that had run off with one of Kierra's best friends and had broken Kierra's heart. Luckily, though he wouldn't admit it to Janine, he knew Remus had been there to pick up the pieces and take care of Kierra as a friend. He just wished it had stayed as a friendship. But they had crossed over the line to love each other, and there was nothing that could be done...

"Oof!" Harvey grunted as he came to a stop in front of a chocolates shelf in Honeydukes. He whirled around to see who had bumped into him from behind. He found a grizzly looking man with long, stringy grey hair standing about an inch from him, looking slightly shocked.

"Excuse me"--

"Didn't mean to trod on your feet like that..." the man said quickly as he took a step back from Harvey.

Harvey nodded slightly and backed away from the man, who smelled like something horribly familiar, though he could not place his finger on what it was. The man smiled slightly at him, revealing many blackened teeth, several of which were very sharp. Harvey wondered for a moment if the man was a vampire, but did not get a chance to consider--Janine grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from the man.

"Harvey, I found this box of chocolate covered cherries--Remus would love it!" she said, struggling to balance Jackie and the chocolate box in one arm as she pulled her husband along with the other. Harvey glanced once more at the man who had bumped into him, who was now studying a packet of blood flavored chocolates--perhaps the man was a vampire...only, it was day time now...didn't vampires sleep during the day?

* * *

The grey-haired man glanced around. Shoppers were bustling around, and cashiers were busy tending to the shoppers. He dropped the blood flavored chocolates in his pocket and hurried out of the store. He had gotten what he wanted...

So Remus Lupin was engaged. And his wife-to-be's family were right here in the vicinity. The man disapparated and apparated a mile down the street, where the local owlry was. Before entering, he glanced at his reflection in the glass door, patting down his grey hair around his face to partially conceal his identity. The man went to the front desk and requested an express owl, quill and a small sheet of parchment. When the woman whom he had paid at the front desk disappeared to tend to another customer, the man quickly set to work on his letter, and in a few moments, he had written it and was now looking over his finished copy:

_24 September 1996_

_Cancel dinner plans for tonight. A feast awaits me elsewhere._

_F.G._

_

* * *

_

A/N: lyrics sung by dear Kierra are from "Hungry Like the Wolf" By Durand Durand


	4. Chapter Four: Fenrir Greyback

_A/N: Meh...sorry I took so long, but I was halfway done way back when my disk decided to need formatting and making all my documents inaccesible..grr...well anyway, I had a hard time writing this chapter... / some of it anyway...a little fun with some scenes.. :P_

_

* * *

_

Chapter Four: Fenrir Greyback

* * *

"I'm going to put Jackie to bed, Harvey…"

"Mmm hmm…"

"Don't try to wrap up Remus and Kierra's presents…I'll do it myself…"

"Sure…"

"And don't you dare eat any of the chocolates…"

Harvey grumbled in response. Janine rolled her eyes as she shifted the weight of her baby into her other arm as she climbed the steps.

"I'm expecting compensation for my good behavior, Mrs. Nakofsky!" Harvey called after his wife as he headed to the kitchen with their shopping bags. As he pushed the door open with his arm and entered the kitchen, Harvey stopped in his tracks. It was quite chilly in there…

Harvey dropped the shopping bags onto the kitchen table and glanced around. The window over the sink was open, allowing the cool night breeze to enter the room. Harvey strode over to the kitchen sink and leaned forward to shut the window, but paused in his actions to perk up his ears. He glanced around again, craning his neck around to get a glimpse of the dining room that connected to the kitchen. He could've sworn he had heard movements. Harvey turned back to the window and shut it, locking it as he did so.

"Who's there?" Harvey said quietly, withdrawing his wand from his pocket as he moved from the kitchen to the dining room. He crept around the dining table, pointing his wand out at the emptiness.

"Harvey? Can you"—

"Stay upstairs, Janine!" Harvey cut in, looking around tensely. He had heard it again…

"You're very protective of your wife, Nakofsky."

Harvey jumped at the sound of the cold voice. He wheeled around, and waved his wand, but before he could shout an incantation, his wand flew from his grip and landed in the hands of the person standing now only a few feet away from him. A gasp escaped Harvey's mouth before he could stop it. It was the grey-haired man from Honeydukes…

"Harvey, what's going on?" came Janine's voice from upstairs. He could hear her making her way across the hallway and slowly down the steps.

"Janine, NO!"

He heard her stop. Harvey sighed and turned to the man. "Who are you"—

The man chuckled. Harvey felt goose bumps form all along his back as the man took a step closer to him. "Oh, you'll find out in good time. Now"—he held out Harvey's wand, as if to examine it, but in the next moment he gripped it with both hands and broke it in two—"you won't be needing that for what's coming."

"Who are you?" Harvey demanded. "What do you plan on doing? Killing me? Without fighting a man's fight, right? Taking my wand like that, huh?"

The man laughed again. "Fenrir Greyback, and yes, I plan on killing you, but I do plan on fighting a man's fight. I'm only taking your wand as assurance that _you_ fight a man's fight too…"

* * *

Janine gasped as she heard the man introduce himself. Fenrir Greyback…

"Jackie…" she murmured.

Janine slowly backed up the stairs and as she reached the top she turned around and darted to Jackie's room. She found her baby fast asleep in her crib, thumb in mouth.

"Janine, run!"

Janine jumped at the sound of her husband's shouting from downstairs.

"Take Jackie and RUN!"

But Janine's feet were rooted to the ground. She heard the sound of furniture crashing beneath her, followed by her husband's shouting in agony.

"Harvey…" she squealed. Jackie had now woken up and was crying. Janine rushed to her side and waved her wand at her daughter, casting a cheering charm on her. So they weren't involved in a wizard's duel. Greyback probably didn't have a wand, having a personal vendetta against wizardkind… Janine bolted out of Jackie's room, shutting the door behind her and putting a locking charm on it as she did so.

"Harvey!" Janine shrieked when she entered the living room. Her husband was on the floor, wrestling Greyback. And the latter seemed to be winning—Greyback was on top of Harvey, clawing at his face with his mouth wide open, baring many razor sharp teeth and grinning in an almost perverted manner as Harvey wrapped his hands around his neck, trying to pull his attacker away from himself.

Janine immediately pulled out her wand and pointed it at the pair, but just as quickly as she had waved it, Greyback had leapt away from Harvey and snatched her wand, smiling at her. She simply gaped at the sight. His matted grey hair hung limply around his thin face, which was covered with cuts and scars. He lifted a hand and wiped his blood-stained mouth with his sleeve, grinning at her as he did so.

"Ah, two on one. Well , this should be fun…I think I should get enough pleasure out of this as you all might get out of a…what do you call it? A thre"—

"You stay away from my wife!"

And before Janine could even react, Harvey had dived forward and had thrown himself at Greyback, pulling his hair with one hand and wrapping his other hand around his neck. Janine's eyes widened with fear and shock. She had never seen her husband act so violently…nor had she herself partaken in such a fray…yet all senses and reason fell away as she dove forward and tried to pry Greyback away from her husband.

"Janine, get out of here!" Harvey shouted, his exclamation then being punctured by a blow to the head from Greyback.

"Stop it! Leave him alone!" Janine shrieked, ignoring her husband's shouting as she pulled at Greyback's robes with all her might.

"Off me, woman!" Greyback snarled, elbowing Janine hard in the stomach, causing her to fall back. She immediately picked herself up and backed away slightly, surveying the room as she did so. Her heart began to pound even faster than it had earlier as her eyes fell on a coffee table. There on display was an old beater's club that had belonged to Harvey's grandfather. Janine raced across the room and grabbed it, and rushed back to Harvey's side.

"Get--off--him!" Janine cried as she hit Greyback as hard as she could. She retracted the club and drew back to hit him again, but just as she had swung it over head, ready to give Fenrir a blow to the head, she stopped and drew breath. Harvey, whose arms had been waving around wildly trying to fight off Greyback, slumped to the ground. His face was bloody and scratched beyong recognition, and he seemed to have gone incredibly still...

"Harvey..." she whispered.

Fenrir pulled himself up and rounded on Janine, smiling as he licked his lips clean of blood.

"You killed him..." she hissed, dropping the beater's club to the floor.

Greyback chuckled as he took steps toward her while she backed away. "So I did...and that's the same fate that awaits you and your baby..."

"You _sick_, twisted"--

But Janine did not finish her sentence. She lunged forward, charging her head into Fenrir's chest, knocking him to the floor. She had no idea what Fenrir had done with her wand, but she didn't care. She'd finish him with her bare hands...

Greback howled with pain as he felt Janine's knee crash in between his legs. He swung a fist forward, hitting her stomach and sending her rolling off of him. Trying to ignore his pain, Greyback quickly crawled over to her and threw his fist at her again. "If you even think you're going to get away with that..." he hissed as he tore the collar of her shirt with claw-like nails and leaned forward to taste her...

* * *

Half an hour later, Fenrir Greyback kicked aside the body of Janine Nakofsky and hurried up the stairs, following the sound of the baby's crying. He would never admit it to anyone, but he was quite surprised at the strength of the woman. He hadn't expected her to last so long. In fact, he had thought that she would be the first one to die, followed by her husband. Yet she had fought until the very end...foolish, headstrong woman. Her husband had yelled at her to run away with the baby, and she could have. But she didn't. _All the more full that makes me, _Fenrir thought as he rubbed his stomach. _Time for dessert though_...

He had reached the nursery. He could hear a baby's wailing from the other side of the door. With much anticipation, Greyback grabbed the knob of the door and tried turning it, but it stuck. The door was locked. Greyback swore. The damn woman had used magic to seal the room up. But he knew no magic. Only a handful of spells such as disarming and stunning, but he had never learned any unlocking spells. Cursing Janine to the pits of hell, Fenrir banged on the door. The crying grew louder and with it his apetite for infecting the child. Even as Fenrir threw himself at the door, he knew it was fruitless. The door was stuck and the baby behind it was unreachable. And with an angry groan, Fenrir kicked the door with his foot and hurried down the stairs and out of the house.

* * *

Kierra hummed as she dumped her basket of clean laundry on the floor and sat down to begin folding them. She paused as she reached for one of Remus's t-shirts, trying to remember the lyrics to the Weird Sisters song she had stuck in her head, but to no avail. She continued on with her humming as she folded Remus's shirt and lay it down next to her. It was so quiet without Remus around. Kierra smiled inwardly. Not that he ever really made the noise...but rather she became noisy when he was around. Now, there was no one to talk to or laugh with...no one to harrass or make fun of...no one to hold onto at night when she went to bed...

Of course there were some benefits of not having him around...no one to tell her off for changing her clothes with the windows wide open (it wasn't like many people walked by their flat anyway!), no one to stop her from singing (though she suddenly found herself forgetting the lyrics of all her favorite songs with Remus's absence)...no one to show her up in the kitchen (and she was getting much better too without having Remus's constant teasing everytime she tried cooking with magic)...

Kierra sighed as she folded the last of Remus's shirts, which was one of few. She looked at the clock. It was only 8:00. She had just thought about going shopping to buy Remus some new clothes, but it was probably too late--most of the stores were closing soon. As she picked herself and her folded clothes up from the ground, Kierra made a mental note to buy Remus's clothes tomorrow. She would get him a light blue shirt. And a tan shirt...yes, he would look good in tan...

"Incarcerus!"

The laundry fell from her hands as she felt a shot of cold hit her body, forcing her against the wall she stood in front of and binding her to it. Her heart pounded rapidly against her chest as she looked up to see who her attacker was. A man with matted grey hair and a bruised up face smiled at her as he tucked away his wand and took a few steps towards her. And he was covered with blood. All over his clothes, on his face, and dripping from his mouth...

"Greyback!" she gasped.

He laughed. "I see your boyfriend likes to talk about me then." he replied. "Oh, I beg your pardon...you're engaged to him now, aren't you?"

"What are you doing here?" Kierra demanded, struggling against the invisible bonds that forced her against the wall. She immediately froze in her attempts when she realized Greyback had now come up so close to her that they now stood only a few inches apart. She could smell the blood dripping from his mouth. Kierra shuddered, closing her eyes and trying to turn her face away from him. He laughed again.

"What? Are you repulsed by the blood?" he asked, leaning in closer to her.

"Just a little..."

"Does it smell familiar?"

"What?"

He laughed quietly as he let his mouth sweep over hers. She protested and tried to pull away, but he pressed on. When he pulled away, he licked his lips and smiled. "Taste familiar?"

Kierra's eyes widened with disgust. "I wouldn't know, I've never had blood before!"

"Well now you have. And you can consider it your own blood." he replied, still smiling obscenely at her.

"My own"--

"When your pathetic boyfriend gets back, you tell him to stay away from my people. You understand?" he hissed.

"_Your people_"--

"Yes, _my_ people...he's a traitor to our kind...thinks he's so good and mighty for trying to live with your kind...but he'll always be one of us..."

"Shut up!"

Greyback laughed. "You think I'm wrong, do you? Think you've got your little werewolf on a leash? Think again. He's one of us and he always will be. It's only a matter of time before he bites off your pretty little face...he thinks he can fool everyone, but he can't and he won't. You tell him to back off"--and Fenrir leaned forward again, letting his mouth brush lightly against Kierra's jaw; she could feel his sharp teeth touching her skin--"or you'll be next."

He pulled away and laughed again. Kierra shuddered, wanting so much to wipe the places he had touched her...

"Oh, yes...his little trophy will be next. His little trophy that he's won in his games against the wizards...you _do _know that's all you are to him, right? Just a trophy. To show us, his so-called equals,that he's won his way into _your_ filthy wizarding world."

"Shut up! That's not true...he...he..." but Kierra trailed off, leaving her sentence unfinished. Fenrir had leaned against her again, sinking his mouth onto her neck. Kierra opened her mouth to scream, but she was so frightened that no voice would come out. He was going to bite her...contaminate her...

She closed her eyes tight and held her breath. She could feel his teeth grazing along her skin...like they were getting ready to cut through her. His teeth pressed against her skin and she let out a whimper before she could stop herself. This felt oddly familiar...

When Fenrir pulled away, he laughed. Yet something of his countenance had changed. He looked slightly strained.. "I can control myself, you know." He whispered. "I wouldn't dream of hurting you...not yet. No, I want your dearly beloved here to witness every moment of it. Sitting right over there in that corner"--Greyback nudged at the corner on the opposite end of the living room and smiled--"I'll wait until then...I'll have you then..."

And without another word, Greyback bolted out the door, leaving Kierra alone and bound to the wall.

* * *

Remus apparated into his and Kierra's flat. He yawned as he appeared with a cracking noise. It must have been one o'clock in the morning by now...hopefully Kierra would already be asleep. He was feeling tired and was in no mood for all her loud energy that she never seemed to be in short supply of...

"Remus!"

Remus blinked, frozen in his spot. Kierra was leaning against the wall in front of him, crying. Only when he blinked again, he realized that she wasn't leaning...

"What"--

"I'm stuck...get me out..." she whimpered.

Remus pulled out his wand and waved it at her. "Finite..."

Immediately, Kierra collapsed forward, falling at Remus's feet. She buried her face in her hands and began sobbing even more.

Remus immediately knelt down in front of her. "Kierra...what happened? Who did this to you?"

"Greyback..." she whispered. "He came...I don't know how he got in...and he did it..."

"What did he do to you?" He repeated. Remus leaned forward, and putting his hands on her shoulders, he pulled her up to face him. "Tell me everything."

Kierra sniffed and recounted Greyback's brief visit, though leaving out the part when he had nearly bitten her. Though she couldn't put her finger on the reasoning, Kierra wanted to keep that information to herself for now. It was not significant anyway...

"I'm sorry you had to go through this..." Remus finally said in a hoarse voice when Kierra had finished. He took her in his arms and cradled her while she continued to cry. "Are you ok though? He didn't hurt you, physically, did he"--

"Remus, don't ever leave me here again..." Kierra cut in, burying her face in his chest and wrapping her arms around the back of his neck. "Please, don't leave me..."

"I won't..I won't...don't worry"--

"Promise me you won't go back to those werewolves..."

"Kierra...shh...you're just shaken up..."

"Remus! Please"--

But just then a pop sounded in their living room, and a moment later, Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, had appeared.

Kierra looked up at him in awe. "Fawkes?"

"He has a note..." Remus got up and took the small piece of parchment that had been attached to Fawkes's foot. Just as he unrolled the parchment, there was a burst of flames in the air where Fawkes had been a moment ago, and the phoenix was gone.

"What does it say?" Kierra asked.

Remus glanced down at the note and read it out loud. "Both of you please apparate over to St. Mungo's immediately. Albus Dumbledore."

"St. Mungo's?" Kierra asked. "But"--

"Come on, let's go..." Remus said, pulling Kierra up. "Hold my arm. You're not well enough to apparate on your own."

Kierra did not protest. She wrapped her arm around Remus's, resting her hand on his bicep, and together they disapparated from their flat.

Moments later, she and Remus were walking through the entrance of St. Mungo's, glancing around for a sign of Dumbledore. Kierra felt vaguely aware of her surroundings though. She was suddenly in London. She hadn't been in London for several months now; yet even that sudden consciousness felt vague in her. She usually felt a wave of excitement when she came to London...but now...now she had just been attacked by Greyback...threatening her and Remus's safety. And now they were in St. Mungo's for some unknown reason...

"Dumbledore!"

Kierra glanced up to see Remus tearing away from her to meet Dumbledore in the foyer. She sighed and hastened to catch up to him...

"Dumbledore...what happened? Does this have anything to do with Greyback? He came over when I was gone...Kierra...he threatened her"--

"I'm alright though..." Kierra breathed as she caught up to Dumbledore and Remus. "He didn't attack me." Dumbledore turned to her and looked over her carefully. He then lifted a finger and put it to Kierra's lips.

"This is blood..." he said quietly when he withdrew and studied the red stains left on his finger.

Kierra nodded slowly. "He...he put it there..."

"Did he say whose blood it was?"

Kierra frowned. "He said to consider it my own...I don't--what is it?" she asked when she saw the pained look that overtook Dumbledore's countenance.

He shook his head. "My dear, I'm afraid I have some very bad news. Come with me, both of you..."

Remus and Kierra looked at each other curiously before following Dumbledore through the foyer. They stopped at the end of the hall in front of a closed door. Dumbledore opened it and held it open for Kierra and Remus to go through. When they entered though, they both stopped in their tracks. Kierra's nieces, Nora and Jackie were sitting on the floor of the bare room, along with a motherly looking healer who was currently tending to Jackie.

"Nora!" Kierra exclaimed, immediately running into the room and throwing her arms around her. "What happened? Are you alright?"

But Nora simply broke into tears in response. Remus turned to Dumbledore, cocking an eyebrow at him. "Er--Dumbledore?"

"Sit down, Kierra. Sit down, Remus." Dumbledore said, and turning to the healer he added, "Gerry, if you could give us a few minutes"--

"Of course, sir!' she said, bowing her head slightly. She stood up, picking up Jackie as she did so, and headed to the door.

"Er, one moment. Gerry, leave Jackie here, please. Just..er..give her to Remus..." Dumbledore said.

Remus stretched out his arms and took the baby from the healer. As he heard the door shut behind him, Remus took a seat on the ground next to Kierra who, while she was holding Nora in her arms, was looking expectantly at their former headmaster.

"I'm very sorry to be the one to tell you this..." Dumbledore started quietly, looking up to meet Kierra in the eyes, "but I've just gotten word that your brother Harvey and his wife have been killed..."

There was a pregnant silence, where nothing could be heard except for the sounds of Jackie's heavy breathing. Finally, Kierra spoke.

"Did he do it?"

"Fenrir Greyback? Yes."

"So that's what he meant..." Kierra whispered as she put a finger to her lip. "My blood...he...he had their blood on him...he put their blood on me...he made me taste it..."

Nora whimpered and Kierra tightened her grip on her, trying to keep her tears at bay for the moment. It was then she felt Dumbledore's hand stretch out and place itself on her own hand.

"I'm very sorry, Kierra..."

"How did Jackie make it out ok?"

The group turned their attention to Nora, who currently looked too pale and timid to be a fifteen year old fifth year student.

Dumbledore sighed, taking off his glasses to clean them with his sleeve. "One of your parents--I'm guessing your mother--sealed Jackie in her nursery. Greyback's knowledge of magic is very limited, as he despises it so much, and was probably unable to get to her."

Nora sniffed in response. Dumbledore smiled ruefully at her and placed his hand on her head as he looked to Kierra and Remus. "I should leave you to yourselves then. I'll have to come back in a bit to discuss some legal matters with you all..but for now, I'll take my leave. But for now..." He got up and glanced down at Nora again, who was studying her hands. And without another word, Dumbledore left the room.

Remus chanced a glance at Kierra after a few moments in silence. She looked so distant...her eyes seemed blank and void of her usual warmth and energy...

"Why did he kill mum and dad..." Nora whispered, glancing up briefly at Kierra. Her eyes were glassy with tears. "Why...what did they do to him?"

"I don't know, Nora..." Kierra replied. Her voice had gone hoarse and had cracked slightly. "He hates witches and wizards..."

"But..." Nora turned to Remus. She still looked pale and unwell, but no longer timid and distraught. Quite the contrary, shenow looked a bit fierce... "But...he also hates werewolves who live with witches and wizards..."

"That's true..." Remus said quietly, forcing himself to look Nora in the eyes. She wasn't looking at him anymore as a professor whom she respected, but with utter contempt...

"Now, Nora"--

"He knew your connection to our family! He just killed them because he hates you...he's trying to torture you...and now he's torturing us too!" she spat.

"Nora, don't say"--

But Nora cut her aunt off as she got up. "You're the reason they're gone! He killed them because of you...marrying into our family..."

Jackie had now woken up and had begun to cry, drowning out Nora's shouting. Remus opened his mouth to defend himself, but nothing came out. He had nothing to say...

"I don't have parents anymore! And...and...Jackie'll never know them!" Nora shouted.

"Nora, I'm sorry you"--

"Sorry won't bring them back to life..." she replied as she headed for the door.

"Nora, come back..." Kierra started as she got up to follow her niece. But she then doubled back and headed towards Remus, stretching her arms out. "Give her to me..." she said quietly.

Remus obeyed and handed Jackie to her, who was now crying loud enough to put a banshee to shame... Only moments after the baby had been transferred to her aunt though, the crying had stopped. Kierra bounced Jackie onto her hip, and after giving him a fleeting look, she headed out of the room to find Nora, leaving Remus alone in the room...


	5. Chapter five: Flannels

_Author's Note: Sooooo sorry for the very, very long delay in updating...should I even bother with blaming it on school? P Well, to compensate, I've made this chapter super-sized. Enjoy! )_

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* * *

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Chapter Five: Flannels

_We the undersigned agree to the terms set by the joint last will and testament of Harvey Lane Nakofsky and Janine Ellen Nakofsky. We hereby accept and assume guardianship over all offspring produced by Harvey Lane Nakofsky and Janine Ellen Nakofsky in the event of their deaths. We submit to the conditions of the will in question that all inheritance bestowed upon us with the intention of providing for the offsprings of Harvey Lane Nakofsky and Janine Ellen Nakofsky. We also understand that the responsibility of guardianship extends until the birthdays that mark the offsprings' entrance into overage wizardry and/or witchcraft._

_Furthermore, all sensible offspring (Nora Nakofsky) acknowledge and accept the halfbreed condition of one member of the guardianship, Remus John Lupin. All other offspring (Jacqueline Nakofsky) who are not of age to comprehend the above circumstances will be informed when the appropriate age is reached. The appropriate age agreed upon by the undersigned is seven years old._

_We agree to the above terms and conditions and have also read and agreed upon with the terms, conditions and policies set by the Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom before witnesses of the ministry and high wizengamot court._

_signed:_

_Remus John Lupin 24.10.96_

_Kierra Jane Nakofsky 24.10.96_

_Witnesses:_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore; Order of Merlin, First Class; Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards; Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot; Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

_Rufus Winston Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic; Order of Merlin, First Class._

Rufus Scrimgeour glanced over the contract, and with a heavy sigh he leaned forward and handed the contract to the girl sitting across from him.

"Well, here you go, Nora. Your signature will magically seal and bind the contract." he said, forcing a smile at the blond girl. Nora Nakofsky took the sheet of parchment from the grizzly looking man and looked it over. She glanced briefly at Dumbledore, who sat to her left, and then to Kierra who was on her right. Slowly, underneath Mr. Scrimgeour's neatly scripted signature, she scribbled, _Nora Nakofsky._

"Well, that settles it then!" Scrimgeour said, taking the contract from Nora and rolling it up. "By the powers invested in me by the ministry of magic, Mr. Lupin and Miss Nakofsky, I now declare you the legal guardians of Nora and Jacqueline Nakofsky."

There were a few small sighs let out around the room as the declaration was made, including that of Kierra, whom Nora could feel smiling down at her.

"You're in good hands, Nora."

Nora glanced up at Dumbledore, who was smiling rather ruefully at her. He raised his right hand and patted her on the head. He had a big hand, with long, thin fingers, yet his grip didn't feel heavy. Nora forced a smile back at him and nodded. She knew she was not in good hands. Nor was Jackie. No one was anymore, were they?

* * *

"Is it just me, or do you all feel really out of place too?"

Dominique, who had just taken a sip of wine from her goblet, glanced briefly at Nymphadora Tonks as they followed Kingsley Shacklebolt into the living room of the late Janine Nakofsky's sister's house, Beth Easley. "I'm with you, Tonks." she replied quietly enough so only Kingsley and Tonks could hear her, "I haven't felt like such an outsider since my first day at Hogwarts."

Tonks glanced sideways at Dominique and made a funny noise that sounded a bit like a laugh. The three stood in silence as they watched guests begin to fill the living room of Beth's house. Dominique glanced around the room, determined to find a familiar face. Finally she saw one. Nora was sitting on the sofa with her Aunt Beth, with Jackie in her lap, feeding her a cracker. Remus was standing a few feet away, in the corner, looking just as or if not even more out of place than his friends. He nodded and smiled every so often at passing guests, talking briefly--what looked like "how are you?" and other brief formalities--but immediately lapsing into a distant silence when the guests had passed. Dominique sighed, wanting very much to approach Remus, to talk to him. But she knew better.

"Sucks to be Remus..."

Dominique snapped out of her reverie at Kingsley's words. She felt his hand rubbing her shoulder, and she sighed again as she turned to face him.

"I know." she replied.

"That Nora looks like she'd kill him if she knew the curses to do it..."

"What are you talking about?" Tonks cut in.

Kingsley cocked an eyebrow at her. "You see how she's been looking at him? Oy--she's doing it again...look!" he said, dropping his voice to a whisper as he nudged his elbow in the direction of the living room sofa where Nora sat. And to Dominique's disappointment, Kingsley had been right. There was Nora, holding Jackie in her arms and slapping her back in attempts to burp her sister. But she seemed to be paying little attention to the baby. Nora's gaze shot past her sister and seemed to be locked on Remus, who stood a few feet away from her, and was glaring at him mutinously.

"She reminds me a bit of Moody when she scowls..." Tonks said, trying to muffle her laugh with Kingsley as Dominique shot them a disparaging look. Tonks then added with a sigh, "I know this'll sound crazy, but I miss him...I wish he were working at the ministry...he'd make a much better boss than old Scrimgeour..."

Kingsley chuckled. "Trade guard duty with me then, Tonks. I see him all the time."

"Wasn't he supposed to come today?" Dominique asked, glancing around as she took a sip of wine, suddenly realising that indeed Mooday was not there with them.

"Guard duty..." Tonks and Kingsley said together.

"Ah..."

"In Hogsmeade...there's a Hogwarts weekend there today too...so more reason to have extra guards there..." Tonks explained.

"Which reminds me, I've got to have a word with Remus..." Kingsley said, "I need to get Greyback up.dates from him..."

"Scrimgeour's had you moved on to other things then?" Dominique asked.

Instead of letting out the customary chuckle that usually preceded his replies, Kingsley merely smiled at Dominique. She had been about to ask him if anything was wrong, but then she recalled Kingsley's last assignment, and at once she knew she had said something stupid. Kingsley's last major assignment had been hunting down Sirius, which had folded over with Sirius's death and very public ministry discovering of his innocence_. Moved you onto other things... _Of course that was a stupid thing to say. The subject of Sirius's death was no longer awkward for her to talk about, but that was just her... Kingsley may not have been close to Sirius the way she had been, but they were still connected, and the subject of Sirius could have still been awkward for Kingsley...

"Alright, I better catch Remus before he disappears..."

"Huh?" Dominique glanced up and saw that Kingsley had been ready to leave her and Tonks. Half wanting to apologize for the possible akwardness she may have caused to him, Dominique simply smiled at him. "Oh, alright. We'll see you later then, Kingsley."

"Yeah, see you at work..." Tonks said, throwing a wink at Kingsley. He chuckled, and giving Dominique's hand a quick squeeze to bid her goodbye, he left to go find Remus, who seemed to have left the living room.

"Well," Tonks started when Kingsley was out of earshot, "feel like filing for sexual harrassment yet?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows at Dominique, who only raised hers in return.

"Er...what?"

Tonks snorted. "You're kidding me...you haven't noticed it?"

"Noticed what?" Dominique asked, looking at Tonks expectantly. "Have I been sexually harrassed without knowing it?"

Tonks giggled. It was amazing to Dominique how many variations of laughter this woman could have. "I can't believe you haven't noticed it!"

"Noticed what?" Dominique repeated, her voice going a bit louder than she had meant. She glanced around the living room, only to find that several people had looked up from their lunches at her. She turned back to Tonks and dropped her voice. "What haven't I noticed? Something to do with Kingsley?"

Tonks nodded. "Oh, it's about Kingsley alright...You and Kingsley."

"Me and Kingsley?"

"You and Kingsley."

"Ok...what about me and Kingsley?"

"Well...I just couldn't help but notice that Kingsley can't seem to keep his hands to himself when he's around you."

Dominique, who had been taking a sip of wine, choked on her drink, spilling a bit of it on the front of her dress.

"What?"

Tonks bit her lip to keep from laughing as she pulled out her wand and pointed it at Dominique. "Scourgify..." she said.

"What are you talking about?" Dominique asked indignantly. "Can't keep his hands to himself? Of course he does! He's never"--

"Groped you or anything, I know..." Tonks cut in. "But he touches you a lot...casually dropping his hand on your shoulder...squeezing your hand as a goodbye...he never squeezes my hand when he leaves the office! And it seems like everytime I see you, you mention Kingsley coming over to your place to drop off something or the other..."

Dominique rolled her eyes and laughed. "This is ridiculous...what are you trying to imply?"

"What do you think I'm trying to imply?" Tonks asked, her mouth twitching into a smile.

Dominique laughed and shook her head. "He can't...he can't possibly..."

"Why not?"

"Because...it's Kingsley...and it's me...and..."

"And?" Tonks asked, raising an eyebrow at Dominique.

"And...and...you're really not going off much here! So he drops by my flat every now and then...so he touches me sometimes when he talks...lots of people do that when they talk...No offense Tonks, but you have no idea what you're talking about..."

Tonks rolled her eyes. "I've got plenty idea of what I'm talking about. You don't know Kingsley like I do. You have no idea how many hours a week I've spent with him these past few years I've been an auror...I know him very well...I know his habits. He doesn't touch people when he talks, and when he does, I know what it means..."

Dominique glanced down at her watch and sighed. She had to be back at her flat in ten minutes to meet Dumbledore. "Listen, I've got to go." she said as she looked up from her watch. "And...you're nuts, Tonks."

"Say hello to Kingsley for me if he stops by your place again!" Tonks replied with a wink as Dominique bid her goodbye, rolling her eyes at her in response.

* * *

Ten minutes later, instead of being in her own flat awaiting Dumbledore's arrival, Dominique found herself back at the churchyard where Janine and Harvey's funeral had been held. She had been there for only a few moments when she found what she was looking for. Several yards away from her was Kierra, kneeling at the freshly dug graves of her brother and sister-in-law.

* * *

1955-1996. Kierra stared at the inscription. There was something so unnerving about seeing such close dates next to each other on a tombstone. He was not supposed to have gone so soon. Nor was Janine. They were only a few years older than Kierra. They were her only siblings...even Janine, who seemed to have been a part of the Nakofsky family for so long, seemed like a big sister to Kierra...

"Kierra..."

Kierra looked up, only to find Dominique standing over her.

"Oh, hey"--

"People are leaving, honey...you should get back to Beth's house."

"Oh...right."

Dominique waited, but Kierra did not get up. She continued to stare at the tombstones of her brother and sister-in-law. Dominique knelt by her side and put an arm around her.

"It was a beautiful service." she said quietly.

Without so much as blinking, Kierra nodded. "It was."

They lapsed into silence again. Dominique glanced at Kierra and sighed. She looked tired, but there were no signs of crying. Nor had there been any this morning during the funeral service.

"I saw Remus a couple of minutes ago. He was taking Nora and Jackie home. And I reckon you ought to hurry up and join them, before Nora performs any nasty underage magic on Remus...she's been glaring daggers at him all day, you know..."

"You're probably seeing things...Nora doesn't hate Remus."

"Of course she doesn't. She's just mad at him." And after a few more moments of silence, Dominique added, "Kierra, go home. Remus needs you..."

Kierra finally looked away from the graves to stare at Dominique, but she remained silent. Slowly, Kierra got to her feet and began to walk away, leaving Dominique alone at the graves.

"Kierra, you're hurting! I know it!" Dominique called after her, but Kierra continued on her way without acknowledgement of her words. "Talk to him!"

Kierra slowed down slightly in her walk and looked over her shoulder to see Dominique picking herself up from the ground. Kierra sighed and disapparated on the spot to return to Beth's house.

* * *

Remus sighed as he looked at the clock. He had now been at home_ alone_ with Nora and Jackie for exactly twenty minutes. He adjusted Jackie, who sat in his lap dining on a bottle of milk, and craned his neck slightly to get a view of Kierra's door from the living room sofa on which he sat. The door was still closed. Without so much as a word to him, Nora had gone straight to Kierra's room and had shut herself in there the moment they had arrived at their flat in Aveyron. What she was doing to pass time in there was beyond Remus, but one thing was clear. Remus needed Kierra to come home. There was no way he was going to go in after Nora and incur her wrath. Not now...not when she hated him, and certainly not when she probably couldn't even see him as a decent human being, let alone as a fatherly guardian figure...

There was a cracking sound, and an instant later Kierra had appeared in front of him. Remus sighed.

"Oh, I've never missed you so much..." he said, smiling wearily at her as he pulled the empty bottle from Jackie's grasp and placed it on the ground. Kierra's mouth twitched slightly, but she did not smile.

"Where's"--

"In your room..."

"Ah..."

As Remus adjusted Jackie in his lap to burp her, he watched Kierra make her way to to her bedroom.

"Nora...it's me! Can I come in?" Kierra asked as she knocked on the door.

Remus perked up his ears for a response, but he heard nothing. Nora must have responded though--either that or Kierra had disregarded the silence--as Kierra slowly turned the door knob and a moment later had gone into her room, shutting the door behind her. He waited for a moment, but heard nothing. Remus sighed as Jackie let out a tiny burp. He stood up and made his way across the room, where Jackie's basinet was currently situated. Carefully, Remus placed her inside it, and for a moment he thought to busy himself with arranging the blankets for Jackie, but just as he reached over to adjust them, a groan sounded from Kierra's room.

"I don't want to!" came Nora's voice. Remus looked up for an instant, feeling thoroughly surprised by the sudden outburst, but almost immediately returned to tending to Jackie's blankets. His ears however, remained perked up to the conversation in Kierra's room...

"Well, where are you going to sleep? The kitchen?" came Kierra's voice. "I know you'll be in school most of the year, but you need a room here...and I don't mind giving mine up...hell, I don't even need a room...sharing one with Remus seems fitting enough anyway. We'll just get rid of Remus's bed and buy a bigger one...and you can have my old bed."

"I don't _want_ your bed." he heard Nora reply. Remus sighed as he rocked Jackie's basinet back and forth, coaxing her to sleep. A few years ago, he never would have imagined his former student taking that tone with anyone, let alone her aunt, one of her best friends...

"What do you mean you don't _want_ my bed?" Kierra asked, her voice starting to sound uncharacteristically annoyed. "Does it not have enough bounce or something to it? Is it too small?"

"Have you guys had sex in it?"

Remus had stopped rocking Jackie's basinet, but his his hands continued to grip the edge of it.

"_What?_"

"Have you?"

There was silence at first, but then Remus heard Kierra clear her throat.

"Um...ok...I'll get you new sheets if you'd like..."

"Forget it! I'm not sleeping in a bed that you and Professor Lupin slept in!"

"Ok, first of all, keep your voice down!" Remus heard K ierra hiss, "Remus is in the living room and he can probably hear all of this. Second, he's not Professor Lupin to you, he's Remus. And third of all, I cannot believe we're having this conversation! I mean I know we're close and stuff...but really! This is completely inappropriate!"

"Says the woman who made me give a play by play account of my first kiss..." Nora muttered.

"Ok, a kiss is different from sex...but that's besides the point!" Kierra replied. "The point is, you're acting extremely rude and petty, Nora. A bed is a bed. It's a clean, comfortable bed, alright? This is a clean and comfortable room, and Remus and I want to give it to you. Why can't you just gracefully accept it?"

"Fine."

"I'm going to help Remus with dinner. We'll eat in about an hour...in the meantime, you're welcome to stay locked up in here...or you can be productive and either help with the cooking or start dumping my things in Remus's room and begin unpacking your own things in here. I'd recommend the latter...keeping busy helps sometimes..." Kierra said.

Remus slowly moved away from Jackie's basinet and headed towards the kitchen to get food out. He did not look up when he heard Kierra's door open. As he began to busy himself with chopping vegetables, Remus could hear the shuffling of feet. Two pairs of feet in fact. One pair began to grow heavier and more distinct, while the other seemed to grow distant. Remus looked up in time to see Kierra walk into the kitchen.

"She's going to be emptying out my room...dumping my things into your room. Hope you don't mind." she said as she moved past Remus and made her way to the cupboard. "I mean, we should be sharing a room anyway, shouldn't we? We're together...and going to be getting married..."

"Sharing a bedroom with you...I don't know." Remus replied, glancing briefly over his shoulder at Kierra, "I figured when we got married we'd still sleep in separate rooms..."

"That's very nineteenth century of you, Remus..."

"Well, you know me. I'm old-fashioned..."

Kierra opened her mouth to reply, but as she looked up, she spotted Nora coming out of her room and walking over to Remus's room, with a large clay vase in hand.

"Careful with that, Nora!" Kierra called after her. "I just made it a few days ago, and"--

Remus jumped as he heard a crashing sound from his room. He looked over at Kierra, who had a very pained look on her face.

"Kierra, I accidentally"--

"Nevermind! I'll repair it later!" Kierra said, cutting her niece off. "Just be careful with everything else..."

A few moments of silence passed in the kitchen, with Remus standing over the stove tending to his vegetables, while Kierra sat at the table and peeled potatoes. As Remus turned the stove off and set a lid over the vegetables, he turned to Kierra, who had a hard look of concentration on her face that was comparable to the look she wore when she played against him in chess.

"Don't be so hard on her, Kierra. She was at her parents' funeral today."

Remus pursed his lips together. He had not meant to say that aloud. He glanced expectantly at Kierra, hoping very much that she wouldn't think to use the potato peeler in her hand as a weapon to use against him during any point of their conversation. But she did not look up. She continued to peel with the strained look on her face.

"I was there too." she said quietly.

Remus took a seat across from her. "I know you were. But those were her parents. She has no one anymore"--

"She has me." Kierra cut in, dropping the peeler onto the table as she finished the last potato. "And you." she added, looking up briefly at Remus before she got up with her bowl of potatoes and headed towards the stove.

The two of them worked in silence for the next hour, save for communicating cooking instructions to each other from time to time. Nora too, worked silently for most of the hour, transferring all of Kierra's things into Remus's bedroom and setting her own things in her new room. It was not until the clock struck seven that they were all able to gather around the table in the kitchen for supper. Even with the presence of dinner and the gathering of Kierra, Remus, Jackie and Nora at the table, conversation could not be drawn out. The three ate dinner in silence (Jackie had taken to massaging gravy all over her face) for several minutes, before Kierra set her fork down and glanced straight at Nora.

"We need to talk."

Nora took a bite of her roll and cocked an eyebrow at her aunt. "You and me?"

"All of us."

"Oh." said Nora and Remus together. They looked at each other briefly, but Remus averted his eyes quickly as he caught Nora's withering stare.

"We need to talk about your schooling." Kierra said as she reached across the table for a dish.

"My schooling? What about my schooling? I assumed I was going back to Hogwarts in a day or two...No?" Nora asked increduously as she saw Kierra shake her head. "Then?"

"After our meeting this morning with Dumbledore and Scrimgeour, I got in touch with Olympe Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxtons Academy in Paris. She was very nice about my letter and was quick to respond in the same day."

"Kierra," Remus started, looking at her warily, "you're not"--

"...sending me to Beauxbatons?" Nora finished.

Kierra sighed. "Madam Maxime was kind enough to accept you in the school, given the circumstances, and Dumbledore's recommendation..."

"But I don't want to go there..." Nora replied. "Why should I? I've been going to Hogwarts for over four years now...I like it there!"

"But we live in France now, Nora..." Kierra said.

"So?"

"So...I want you to be close to us..."

"Paris is still a good distance from here though, isn't it?" Nora asked.

"Yes, but it's closer to us than Hogwarts is..." Kierra replied. "Nora, it's dangerous out there. We're in a war...and the war's mostly in Britain...you're safer here..."

"Kierra, I think she's perfectly safe at Hogwarts...Dumbledore's there..." Remus interjected.

"I don't care if Dumbledore's there...that hasn't stopped all these deaths from occurring, has it?" Kierra replied, turning to Remus and glaring at him.

"Well, no...but"--

"Nora is going to Beauxbatons, and that's final."

"It is not final!" Nora exclaimed indignantly. "I never agreed to it!"

"Neither did I." Remus added.

Nora glared at him. "Your opinion isn't pertinent here."

"Don't talk to him like that!" Kierra snapped.

Nora snorted. "Oh, but you can, right? I get it. And I'm not going to Beauxbatons...I don't even know French! How the hell am I supposed to do my lessons in French if I don't know French?"

"We'll teach you."

"Excuse me?"

"Remus and I will teach you." Kierra said. "You won't have to start for another week...and we'll spend the week giving you a crash-course in intensive French."

"Kierra, I'm sorry...but this is crazy." Remus said, fighting the urge to stay silent on account of his annoyance with Nora and Kierra's rudeness towards him. "We can spend hours with her every day, but there is no way she can learn enough French in a week to handle classes in French."

"Almost everyone there knows English...don't worry. She'll be able to get around." Kierra replied.

"Look, I understand you're concerned about her safety, and you want her to be closer to us...but come on...changing schools? She's used to Hogwarts, she likes it there...er"--Remus glanced fleetingly at Nora--"you do like it there, right?" he asked.

Nora sighed exasperatedly and nodded.

"See? She likes it there...we can't take her away from that, Kierra...and Dumbledore's there...I know unfortunate things have been happening in Britain lately, but the school is perfectly safe. Dumbledore takes care of his students...she'll be fine..."

"Oh, would you just drop it, Remus?" Kierra snapped, dropping her fork onto her plate, startling Jackie into dropping the gravy bowl she had been fitting onto her head. "You and your stupid, over-zealous loyalty towards Dumbledore! Look, I know he's a great, wonderful man...but he's not God. He's not perfect, and he can't protect and save everyone. I don't want to put Nora's life in his hands."

"You'd rather put her life in Olympe's hands? She seems like a good woman from what Hagrid's told me, but none of us even know her!" Remus replied, trying to keep his voice even. "We know Dumbledore. We know him well, and he knows us well..."

Kierra shook her head. "He knows _you_ well, Remus. Anyway, look. All the war is going on over there...there's just no point." She turned to Nora, and forced a smile at her. "I want you closer to us, and the only way that can happen is if you go to Beauxbatons...ok?"

"Fine." Nora replied, setting her fork and knife down and tossing her napkin on the table as she got up. "Excuse me...I'm not really hungry." But before either Remus or Kierra could say anything, she had already left the kitchen.

* * *

"Jackie's going to be sleeping in Nora's room..." Kierra said quietly as she made her way into Remus's room later that night.

"Like there'd be any room for a basinet in here anyway..." Remus replied as he stepped over a pile of Kierra's books that blocked the entrance to his closet. "This place is a mess..."

"We can clean up tomorrow...I'm exhausted." Kierra replied. "Let's just go to sleep..."

"On what?" Remus asked, shifting his glance to his bed, which was covered with mounds of Kierra's clothing.

"Oh...just dump it all on the floor..." Kierra said, making her way over to Remus's bed to help him in dumping her clothes on the ground. "We'll tackle this mess tomorrow."

"Whatever you say..." Remus replied.

Kierra watched Remus change his clothes as she fastened the buttons of her own nightshirt. Instead of dumping his robes on the ground as she had done, he folded them neatly and placed them on the only clean surface in the room--his nightstand. She watched him as he took hold of the undershirt he was wearing, pausing, and then letting go of it, apparently deciding to leave it on for the night. He adjusted the waistband of his briefs for a moment and then carefully slipped into his red flannels. For the first time that day, Kierra couldn't help but smile slightly. She had given him those flannel pajamas for their first month anniversary because he would always complain of being cold at night, due to his lack of warm night attire; and since then, he had been wearing those flannels to bed almost every night; and tonight was no exception. Their lives were changing right before them; they were going to be married in a matter of months, today they had just adopted two children, one of whom seems to dislike Remus greatly at the moment...they were in the midst of a war, they've made few gains and have suffered more casualties...yet despite all this, there would be some normalcy. Remus would continue to wear his flannels at night regardless of what was happening in the world. He would continue to be his self...his normal self, just as he had always been. Staying the same, staying cool and calm was his way of dealing with differences. Kierra sighed as she extinguished the lights and joined Remus in his small, twin-sized bed. She did not want to admit it, but deep down she knew it was true...Remus was responsible for any inkling of sanity she had in herself...

"Do you have to go to London tomorrow?" Kierra whispered as she climbed into Remus's bed. "I wasn't sure if you cancelled that thing with what's-his-name...but you needn't...I can stay home with Nora and Jackie..."

"No, no...I already cancelled. I'll stay home too...someone needs to watch Jackie while you tutor Nora in French..." Remus replied, turning his head away slightly so Kierra couldn't see him rolling his eyes.

"Fine. I'm thinking I tutor her in the morning...you can tutor her in the evening...maybe by then she'll have warmed up to you a little more."

I'm a bit doubtful of that." said Remus, turning on his side to face Kierra. "Listen, I'm still not convinced this a good idea..."

"Remus, it's already settled. She's going to Beauxbatons..." Kierra replied.

"It's not that...well, it's not_ just_ that..." Remus said quickly, "I know you don't care to hear this, but I think you're being too hard on Nora...and not just her...you're being hard on yourself. From the moment you found out about Harvey and Janine, you've been keeping busy with so many things...funeral preparation, all the legal matters, you need to stop and take a breather, Kierra."

Kierra grunted as she turned over in bed so as to avoid Remus's stare. "I don't need one."

"You're avoiding the pain, Kierra...because you know it's going to hurt like hell. But the longer you wait, the more it's going to hurt. You just need to let yourself wallow...grieve"--

"I don't _need_ to wallow...I don't want to wallow."

"Fine if you don't want to...why won't you let Nora?" Remus asked.

"She doesn't either."

"You're not letting her, Kierra." Remus replied. "She's lost a huge part of her life overnight, and now you've just taken away what little she has left"--

"Remus, shut up. I'm sleepy."

"...making her leave her school, coming to live with us...she hates me, Kierra! I mean, that's fine, I can deal with it for now...but that's just so much for her to adjust to...she doesn't need you to be a disciplinarian right now...she needs a friend, and you're supposed to be one of her best friends..."

"Don't tell me how to deal with Nora..." Kierra snapped.

"She's barely a young woman! This is all going to be very hard on her...she needs support, and she needs to be able to grieve..."

"Well, I don't want her to!"

Silence rung all around them. For an instant, Remus wondered if Nora had heard...but the sound of soft snoring in the other room allowed him to sigh with relief. Relief that was short-lived though; as he turned his attention back to Kierra, he found her curled up away from him, crying into her pillow.

"I don't want Nora to wallow." she mumbled, "I know I shouldn't have been harsh on her like that...but I don't want her to grieve...I don't want her to suffer...I don't want her life to fall apart because of what's happened to her..."

Remus massaged Kierra's shoulder as she continued to cry. "I understand that. But I want you to understand that I don't want you to fall apart either."

Kierra wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt and stared up at Remus. He smiled ruefully at her as he brushed a lock of hair out of Kierra's face.

"I'm weak, aren't I? I can't even deal with emotional pain...and I have to take Nora down with me...not let her deal with it either..." Kierra said as she sank under Remus's covers.

Remus followed suite. "Not weak...no one likes pain, and we'd all like to avoid it if we can..." he said.

They lay in silence for several minutes. Kierra tried to roll over, but ended up landing against Remus. She did not apologize or bother to move; instead curled up against him and closed her eyes.

"Well, this is fairly cozy..." Remus murmured as he attempted to shift in bed, only to accidentally hit Kierra's leg. "We could expand it or something..."

"My wand is on the dresser..." Kierra whispered, stretching her arm out lazily at the dresser that sat several feet away from them.

"So is mine..." Remus replied.

"Can you get yours?"

"Sure...but it would require you to get off of me..." he replied, running a finger along Kierra's shoulder, which rested against his chest.

"Mmmph..."

"Is that a yay or a nay on the wand getting?"

"Nay..."

"So you're comfortable then?" Remus asked.

"Yes...you?"

"Perfectly comfortable."

"We'll still have to buy a bigger bed..."

"Of course..."

"But this'll do for now..."

"I agree..."

"You usually do."

Half an hour later, Remus smiled slightly as he ran his fingers through Kierra's hair. She had fallen asleep. He closed his eyes and inhaled, taking in the scent of her hair. It wasn't floral or anything particularly feminine...it was just Kierra...and he loved how the scent was uniquely hers, and how she always smelled like that. He knew it was rather pathetic to feel so content with something so trivial...but deep down, he knew Kierra's scent was reassuring. In the midst of a war, in the midst of all the troubles they were incurring, at least there was some normalcy. Of course, it was something small and unimportant, but to Remus, the fact that Kierra would always smell the same would always be a matter of comfort to him.


	6. Chapter Six: RESPECT

Chapter Six: R-E-S-P-E-C-T

* * *

"You know...this whole statute of secrecy thing is pretty overrated...I don't think a little levitation charm ever harmed anyone..." Remus said, letting out a low grunt as he struggled under the weight of the mattress he was carrying.

"Shut up, Remus..." Kierra muttered as she dug through her purse. A moment later she had retrieved a set of keys, and tossed them to Nora, who stood by the door of their flat. "Here, Nora...hurry up before Remus the girl collapses..."

Remus chose not to respond to this. Fine. They thought he was a girl for thinking it silly to carry a new mattress set an entire block from the mattress store without putting a weight-reducing charm on it. As if anyone on the streets would really notice such subtle magic...

"Alright, we're in..." came Nora's voice.

"Great..." Remus muttered. He forced his head up, trying to see where the door was, but all he could see were Nora's legs. "Er...which way is in?"

"Here, let me help you with it..."

Remus felt Kierra walk past him, as she brushed against the mattress in the narrow hallway, sending him teetering from the small force applied.

"Alright, put it down. We'll both carry it..." Kierra instructed. Immediately, Remus dropped the mattress and sighed heavily from relief. A moment later though, he was holding one end of the mattress while Kierra held the other, and they were carrying it into their flat with Nora as their guide.

"Ok...to the right," she instructed, "No, Kierra, right! My right is the same as yours!" she exclaimed when Kierra, who was forced to walk backwards as she carried her end of the mattress, went the wrong way and bumped into the wall.

"Right..." Kierra muttered, wincing from the pain she received when she banged her heel against the wall.

Alright...just pivot now..." Nora said. "A little more...a little more...ok, not that much, Prof--er--Remus..."

Remus tightened his grip on the mattress set when he heard Nora say his name. It had been a few days since she and Jackie had moved in, and she had only just started to call him Remus, though apparently she still wasn't comfortable with it yet, judging by the hesitancy with which she tended to say his name...

Kierra and Remus sighed with relief as they set their new, larger mattress in the frame of the bed.

"Yay..." Kierra said tiredly as she plopped onto the bed.

"I'll never be able to bend my back again..." Remus muttered as he fell next to her.

Kierra let out a small, tired laugh. "You were never really bendable to begin with, Remus..."

"This is true." he replied.

"Right...well, I'm going to go and pick up Jackie..." Nora said abruptly.

"Oh! Right..." Kierra said, getting up and leaving Remus alone on the bed. "That would be great. Tell Elinor thanks for us..."

"Sure..." Nora replied as she headed out of the room.

Kierra cocked an eyebrow at Nora's retreating figure, but then turned to Remus and pulled him off the bed in order to start removing the plastic covers from the mattress. Just as she had successfully removed the plastic and had begun to crumble it into a ball, she heard the front door slam shut, leaving Kierra and Remus alone in the apartment.

"Oh...Remus?" Kierra started when she was certain Nora had left.

"Hmm?"

"When Nora gets back, I'm going to head on out to my office...I really need to get some work done, and I have a meeting too with one of my students..."

"Right, I know..."

"So..."

Remus glanced up at Kierra, furrowing his brows. He knew what was coming...

Kierra cocked an eyebrow at him. "So...can you tutor Nora while I'm gone?"

Her question was followed by silence. She placed her hands on her hips as she frowned at Remus. "Come on...I tutored her like, all day yesterday...it's your turn to put in a few hours!"

He pouted, though in the back of his mind he knew it wouldn't work. It never worked. Only Sirius Black and James Potter had been able to pout their way out of most dilemmas. "But she still hates me..." he said.

Kierra groaned as she got up and left the room. Remus followed her out and into the kitchen, where Kierra had begun to shuffle through some of her paperwork. "Remus, you're being stupid."

"I am not..."

"Um...yes, you are."

"I am not," Remus repeated, now making a conscious effort at keeping his voice low, "Half the day's gone by and the only thing she's said to me is 'not that much, Remus!' when we were moving the mattress...and she could barely even get my name out..."

Kierra rolled her eyes as she began to gather her papers and replace them in her briefcase. "So she's not used to calling you Remus yet...big deal!"

"She doesn't _want_ to call me Remus...she doesn't want to get any closer to me than she's already been forced to become." Remus replied.

"She's not being _forced_," Kierra said as she shut her briefcase, only to glance down at one of the chairs tucked into the table to find another large stack of papers that needed to go with her to the office as well. "Listen," she said as she popped open her briefcase again, "you're being too dramatic. Nora's just being moody, what with all that's happened...she really does like you though..."

Remus smiled humorlessly. "Of course. The way she burnt my shirt this morning when you asked her to take over the ironing..."

"Hey, she's a Nakofsky! We're not good at domestic sort of work...cut her some slack!" Kierra said as she attempted to shut her briefcase again, but with little success; it was stuffed with folders and papers and would not close all the way.

"Alright." Remus said. "How about the way she glared at me when I asked her to pass me the toast at breakfast?"

"Well...you know," Kierra said, shrugging, "she was sleepy, and she was trying to eat...and you were being so damn polite to her when you asked! And come on, nobody likes polite people in the morning..."

Remus cocked an eyebrow at her. "Kierra..."

"Ok, fine...so she's not crazy about you at the moment...but she's warmed up to you slightly! I mean, at least she can sit in a room with you now without blowing up..." she replied, now banging down on the lid of her briefcase with her fist in attempts to close it.

Remus rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah...huge improvement. Now we just sit in stony, awkward silence together unless you're in the room to spark conversation between us..."

"Well, you know...you could expedite the process if you put in some effort...you're not exactly trying to get closer to her yourself!"

Remus took a deep breath. He and Kierra had been walking on thin ice all week, and he was not about to let himself fall through just yet... "I _am_ trying, Kierra. But getting close to a girl who hates you because she thinks you're responsible for her parents' death is not exactly a stroll in the park."

Kierra grunted as she struggled with her briefcase. She swore under her breath, making a mental note to buy a new one that was bigger. She looked up at Remus wearily. "I _know_ it's not a stroll in the park. But you still need to make some effort!"

"I am"--

"By doing what? Hiding from her? You want to know why you can't get close to Nora? Why she won't respect you? You don't respect yourself, Remus!"

"Excuse me?"

Kierra sighed as she smacked the lid of her briefcase in another fruitless attempt to make it shut. "You can't even take a little heat from a fifteen year old! How the hell is Nora supposed to like or respect such a wuss?"

Was she _actually_ calling him a wuss? Remus could feel his eyes widen slightly in disbelief. "I'm sorry...you're calling me a"--

"A wuss! Yeah!" Kierra exclaimed. "You're hiding from someone half your age! You're letting her push you around! You need to stand your own damn ground if you want her to respect you. You know, that's always been one of your problems...you're so concerned with everyone liking you, that half the time you forget about the respect part. They need to respect you before they like you, Remus."

"Well"--

"I'm not done." Kierra snapped, smacking her briefcase lid again, which only bounced up slightly from all the spring in the stacks of papers. "Ever since Nora and Jackie have arrived, you've been making it a point to stay at least ten feet away from Nora, and that's only when I'm present. When I'm not, you can't even be in the same room as her! This is insane...quit hiding behind me and get over yourself...she's half your age! She's not even allowed to do magic...what the hell is she going to do to you? And if she does do anything, discipline her! You were criticizing me for being a disciplinarian the other night, saying I needed to be Nora's friend...well, it'll be easier for me to be her friend again if you could at least take on some authoritative role! I can't be her mum, dad, best friend and pet kitty all at once, you know!"

Remus slammed his hand down on Kierra's briefcase, successfully shutting it with the sound of a click and causing Kierra to jump back in surprise.

"Are you finished?" he asked. But before she could open her mouth to reply, Remus continued, "Since you did bring up the subject of respect...it's interesting that you did, really...ironic, actually..."

"Is that so?"

"You want to know why else Nora and I aren't making any progress? Possibly because one of the only role models she has left doesn't even show respect towards me! So why should she respect me then? Why would she make an effort to be civil with me if you aren't going to? Did it ever occur to you that every time you snap at me and call me names, or just act rudely to me in Nora's presence, she might just pick up on it? You didn't let me have any say on Nora's education, and you brushed me away in front of her when I did try to get involved… I mean, no wonder she doesn't care to make an effort with me...she doesn't respect me because you don't even respect me!"

Kierra snorted. "Respect you? I'm sorry...since when did you become Mr. Macho Patriarchy?"

"I didn't mean"--

"I feel like you should have a club in your hand when you say that, and we should be surrounded by cave walls..."

Remus sighed exasperatedly. "I'm not asking you to bow down to me. I'm talking about respecting me the way I respect you. Respecting me the way we want Nora and Jackie to respect us...the way you used to respect me."

"Kee-ah!"

Kierra and Remus both craned their necks out of the kitchen, only to find that Nora had arrived with Jackie, who was now hobbling around the living room on her short, chubby legs, in search of her aunt.

"Oh! You're back..." Kierra said suddenly.

Nora glanced at her aunt warily, and then briefly shifted her gaze to Remus before turning back to her aunt. "Er...yeah..."

"Alright...well, I need to get to work." Kierra said, glancing briefly at Remus before heading back to the kitchen to get her briefcase.

"Oh! Listen...Kierra," Nora started, following her aunt, "can I come with you? I know you're busy...but I can just walk the grounds a bit to pass time..."

Kierra opened her mouth to reply, but was immediately cut off by Remus, who had also followed them into the kitchen.

"Why don't you stay home with me instead, Nora?" he said, receiving a look of surprise from not only Nora, but Kierra as well. "We can go over your French..."

"Oh...well..."

"Great idea!" Kierra cut in before Nora could begin to protest. She quickly made her way over to the kitchen table and made a grab for her briefcase, pressing down on the latches to make sure it was still shut from when Remus had slammed down on it. She smiled inwardly at the thought of Remus's unusual strength. For someone who tended to be tired and sickly for much of the time, he was quite strong. Of course, his ability to haul a queen sized mattress a few blocks with little help proved that as well. Kierra wondered how his back was feeling...

"Well, I'm in a hurry, so I'm just going to apparate over there"--she walked over to Remus's side and gave him a peck on the cheek, while Nora grimaced and turned away from them-- "Does your back still hurt?" she asked, dropping her voice so only Remus could hear her.

Remus raised an eyebrow at her in return. "Er...yeah...some. Why?"

Kierra smiled slightly and kissed him again on the cheek. "Alright. We'll tend to that when I get home. And if you could suspend any anger you have at me til then...we'll talk about it..." she added.

Remus smiled. "No anger...but we'll definitely talk."

Still smiling, Kierra stepped away from him, and turned to Nora. "Be good now." she said. And without further ceremony, she disapparated out of the flat.

Once Kierra disapparated, Remus turned his attention to Jackie, who was sitting on the kitchen floor, pulling out the contents of the cupboard under the sink -- large, heavy cauldrons. Remus blinked a few times, suddenly overcome by the feeling of deja vú. But then it hit him. He had witnessed something like this before -- He had seen Harry Potter do the same thing over fifteen years ago in the kitchen of Lily and James's home. The whole gang had been there, and had thought it was rather cute--that is, until Harry decided to stick one of the smaller cauldrons over his head -- only to get stuck in it. It had taken several minutes for Lily to work some careful magic (James had suffered from a bit of hyperventilation when it happened and it had taken them all a few minutes to get him to calm down) to get the cauldron off safely.

"That won't do, Jackie..." Remus said as he bent over to pick her up from the mess of cauldrons and pans. "Nora, why don't you go ahead and get your books while I clean up?"

Without so much as a reply, Nora stalked off to her room. Remus sighed quietly, pulling out his wand and waving the mess away. He had hardly noticed Jackie's squeal of delight when the cauldrons stacked themselves away in the cupboard as he quickly picked her up and took her to the living room. He pulled out his wand again, and pointing it to the carpet, carefully drew a large circle, and muttered "fortificus."

Blue light streamed out of his wand, falling onto the ground in the shape of the circle Remus had traced a moment before. He smiled ruefully as he tucked his wand away. Janine had taught him that spell when he and Kierra had come to visit a couple of months ago. Just then, he saw Nora emerge from her room with her books under her arm. She had passed through the living room and was making her way to the kitchen when she noticed the circle Remus had made on the ground, and stopped to do a double take. She watched as Remus took Jackie and placed her inside the circle, and then proceeded to give her toys.

"How come it's blue?"

Slightly startled at Nora's sudden question, Remus looked up quickly, accidentally dropping Jackie's stuffed unicorn on her head, to which she reacted with a small giggle. "Sorry?"

Nora sighed. "Whenever my mum made a playpen for Jackie, it was always violet. How come yours is blue?"

"Oh...well, jets of light that are violet in colour are usually more powerful than those of blue...I think because they have more energy in them. I think it's supposed to be violet here, but I'm not very good at this spell, so that's why it probably went blue. I'm guessing it won't last too long..." Remus said.

"When mum did it, it could hold for a whole day." Nora replied, dropping her books onto the table.

"Not surprised." Remus said. "When it comes to magic that is intended to protect or nurture, mothers always perform the best. Actually, it was your mother who taught me how to do that charm."

"I know. I saw her teach you."

Remus merely nodded, not entirely sure where to take the conversation. Suddenly though, the clock in the living room chimed three o'clock, giving Remus the perfect excuse to switch back into studying mode with Nora.

"Right then. Maybe we should get started...Kierra will be back in a few hours, and we want to be able to tell her you learned something today, right?" he asked, taking a seat next to Nora at the kitchen table.

Nora shrugged as she opened up the French textbook Kierra had gotten her. "I've learned how to do introductions and greetings and things...and I've already mastered conjugating verbs in the present tense. I also know how to count, use possessive and negations...I think I'm supposed to learn how to tell time and learn how to talk about work and school..." Nora said, glancing at the table of contents in her book.

Remus nodded, pulling out his wand to summon some quills and parchment from his room. For an instant, he wished Kierra were home, overseeing this tutoring session, but immediately he felt a pang of guilt for wishing so. He had to make an effort with Nora...

* * *

Dominique clutched tightly to her bag as she made her way through Diagon Alley, frowning slightly when she passed by Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, which had now been boarded up for several weeks. It gave Dominique goosebumps just trying to imagine what could have been done to Florean, and where their famous and favorite ice cream maker was now. It was almost surreal, the world she was now living in. She had experienced it once before, almost twenty years ago, when the first war started. And when it had ended, she never dreamt that she would ever live long enough to live see its rebirth. And yet it was re-born right before her eyes. People she knew were disappearing, several of them turning up dead many weeks after their disappearances. Many others had been killed outright and on the spot. Sirius had been the first casualty of this war. Shot carelessly by his cousin with some curse, and thrown mercilessly behind that wretched veil in the department of mysteries. Dominique sighed as she turned the corner. At least the world knew of his innocence now. Maybe Sirius never had the chance to enjoy the clean slate he would've been given by the ministry of magic, but at least no one thought him a manic, raving murderer anymore...

"Dominique!"

Dominique fell out of her reverie at the sound of her name. She glanced around, looking for a familiar face, but she saw none. Suddenly though, she felt a rather heavy hand grip her shoulder. It had felt familiar; usually it provided an amount of reassurance or comfort, but now it was sending shivers down her spine.

"Kingsley, hello!" she said, smiling as she turned around to meet the young auror. "Fancy running into you here…how's it going?"

But Kingsley did not return her smile. On the contrary, he looked a bit grave. "What are you doing here?"

"Er…shopping?"

"What on earth do you need to come to Diagon Alley for on a weekday? Don't you have to teach?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

Dominique frowned. "Yes…I got out hours ago though. And I needed to buy a new cauldron…what's the big deal? And what are you doing here? I thought you detested shopping…and Diagon Alley is littered with nothing but shops…"

Kingsley rolled his eyes. "I've been here on patrol. My shift just finished though, and I was about to go home, but then I saw you wandering around out here all by yourself. What the hell is wrong with you, woman? You could get jumped or something! There are death eaters and You-Know-Who supporters lurking all over the place!"

Dominique couldn't help but smile. "You think I'm going to get _jumped_?"

"Or worse…" Kingsley said, glancing around the streets as he pulled out his wand. He then turned back to face Dominique. "Where are you going now?"

"Well…I was thinking of grabbing dinner 'cause I'm too tired to cook…but on second thought, since I might get _jumped_, I think I'll just go home and eat…" she replied, trying not to laugh at Kingsley's idiocy. Honestly…getting jumped? That only happened to muggles…

Kingsley smiled slightly. "There's nothing wrong with being out here…you just shouldn't be by yourself. If you're tired, just eat somewhere here…but let me take you. Where do you want to go?"

Dominique raised an eyebrow at him. "You're going to be my chaperone?"

"Maybe." Kingsley replied, taking Dominique by the arm and leading her forward, "So, do you like Esmeralda's? They have an excellent menu…"

Twenty minutes later, Dominique and Kingsley were being seated at a small, square table at Esmeralda's Kitchen. The restaurant was softly lit, and smelled of rich sauces and exotic spices. As they sat and waited for their dinner, the two fell into conversation, jumping from topic to topic. From the ministry's ineptness to Kierra and Remus's engagement, the two conversed so easily and readily that Dominique hardly noticed when their food had finally arrived. Nor did she notice that Kingsley had hardly touched his plate throughout the course of the meal, or that he would not take his eyes off her for most of the night...

* * *

"À quelle heure votre début de classe?" Remus asked, pointing to a picture of a classroom filled with students in Nora's textbook.

"Ma classe commence à 8 heures." Nora replied, looking tiredly up at the clock in the kitchen that currently read 5:30. And as Remus congratulated her on getting the right answer and proceeded to turn the page, she muttered under her breath, "Ceci est perte de mon temps…"

Remus glanced sideways at Nora as he turned to the next chapter in the book, _Au jour le jour_. "You know if you want to be rude, at least be grammatical about it. The correct way to say that this is a waste of your time is Ceci est _une_ perte de mon temps."

Nora did not reply to this, but simply glared at him in return. Just then, the popping sound of Kierra apparating over in the living room could be heard, allowing both Remus and Nora to sigh quietly with relief.

"I'm home!" came Kierra's voice, followed by the sound of Jackie's gurgling.

"Thankfully…" Nora muttered as she got up from her seat.

With slight hesitation, Remus stopped her by gently taking her wrist. "Nora, where are you going? We've got another page to do"—

Nora snatched her hand out of his grasp and glared at him. "We've been at it for two and a half hours! I'm tired! Kierra didn't make me study this long"—

"Ah…I thought I heard you two in here…"

Remus and Nora turned around and found Kierra standing at the entrance of the kitchen holding Jackie in her arms.

"How's the studying coming along?" she asked, glancing down at Jackie with a frown, who had rested her head against Kierra's shoulder and was starting to drool.

"Great," Nora replied, "we were just finishing…"

"Actually, we were just taking a break." Remus cut in, casting a look at Nora that he hoped was stern. "You can have half an hour, and after that we need get back to work. I want you to have the past tense conjugating mastered by the end of tonight."

Kierra smiled slightly when Nora mumbled a _fine, _but then turned her attention to Remus. "Hey, why don't we extend that break a bit, hmm? Nora needs to go and get measured for her uniform still."

"Oh! And I need some other school supplies too! Can I go then for a shopping break?" Nora asked, with sudden renewed enthusiasm.

Remus cocked an eyebrow at Kierra, who reached into her pocket with her free hand and retrieved a fistful of gold galleons. "Yes, go. But don't take more than a couple of hours, alright? Remus can continue teaching you when you get back."

Remus frowned at Kierra. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Nora's quite behind in her studying…and in addition to that, she can't shop alone…this is France! She doesn't know"—

"Madam Annette over at the Clothier's knows English; Nora will be fine…" Kierra said. And smiling rather meaningfully at Remus, she added, "plus, you could use a bit of a break, Remus. I'm sure you're absolutely exhausted…"

Remus could not argue with this. He was quite exhausted and rather sick of teaching French, and could use a break from Nora's attitude. "Alright…a couple hours then," he said, turning to Nora, "but we'll resume from where we left off when you get back. Understand?"

"Sure…" she replied, taking the money from Kierra and heading out of the kitchen to get her purse. Remus opened his mouth to speak to Kierra, but she had followed Nora out, leaving him in the kitchen by himself. Remus quickly got up and followed Kierra, pausing for a moment to rub his backside, which seemed to had fallen asleep during the long tutoring session with Nora. When he came out of the kitchen, he found Nora bolting out the door, probably eager to get away from him and into some clothing stores, and Kierra in Nora's room, tucking Jackie into her basinet for her nap.

"So…does that back of yours still hurt?" Kierra asked as she put the lights out in Nora's room and shut the door behind her, coming face to face with Remus.

Remus rubbed his lower back a little to estimate the pain. "I think it feels a bit worse from hunching over Nora's books for Merlin knows how long…why? You're not going to give me any potions, are you? Because no offense, you're abysmal at potions..."

Kierra laughed as she pushed Remus towards their room. "Of course not. I love you too much to ever make a potion for you…"

"Good to know…"

"I like how you're handling Nora, by the way." Kierra said as she sat him down on their bed. "Exerting authority very well…"

Remus cocked an eyebrow at her. "Not at all like a wuss?" Kierra smiled ruefully at him and then proceeded to push him onto his stomach, at which Remus added, "and what exactly are you doing to me?"

"Listen, I'm sorry about all those things I said to you earlier, about being a wuss and everything. I guess I was just frustrated with this whole situation, trying to get Nora to adjust properly over here and whatnot…oh, and I'm giving you a back rub…" Kierra added as she leaned forward and began to pull off Remus's shirt.

Remus pulled himself up slightly, propping himself up on his elbows in order to allow Kierra to take his shirt off more easily. When it was off, he fell back down on his stomach, letting Kierra's hands massage his back. He sighed. "It's alright. You were sort of right anyway…I wasn't being authoritative with Nora at all…I wasn't even putting effort in getting close to her. I hate to admit it, but I guess it's because I'm cowardly…I hated the thought of Nora rejecting me, pushing me away from her…so I thought it safest to not even try approaching her."

"…and I know I'm not really helping when I act all domineering and everything in front of Nora." Kierra said. "Makes her think she can push you around too; and she shouldn't. Only I reserve the right to do that…"

"Right…"

Kierra giggled as she moved her hands down to Remus's lower back and began to press down on it, moving her fingers in a circular motion against his skin. "I was just kidding. I have no right to push you around either…"

"No…it's ok. Except when you get rude and bossy in front of Nora, I really don't mind it so much when you order me around. You're just sort of like that, and I'm used to it…" Remus replied.

"Oh, gee…thanks a million for that one…"

"I said I don't mind! I really don't…I actually like that about you. Well, most of the time anyway…I like that one of us can be more assertive…" said Remus.

"So…have I always been like that?" Kierra asked.

Remus had closed his eyes to enjoy Kierra's massage, but then reopened them to ponder Kierra's question. "Well…no, I don't think so. When we were younger, you weren't very aggressive. You were pretty docile for the most part…except when you got angry, at which point you tended to get fairly intimidating…"

Kierra laughed. "On your back now."

Remus obeyed, but pouted when he met Kierra's glance. "I was thoroughly enjoying the backrub though…"

Kierra grinned as she climbed in the bed with Remus, and fell onto his middle. "I'm thinking you'll enjoy this much more though."

She leaned forward, and wrapping her hands around the back of his neck, she pulled him up into sitting position which caused her to fall back slightly in his lap. Remus grunted in pain at the force of being pulled up, and quickly grabbed a hold of Kierra's hips in order to keep himself sitting upright. "I thought we both agreed I wasn't bendable." He said.

Kierra, who had been about to plant a kiss on his mouth, ended up missing his lips when she giggled, and kissed his chin instead. "You have a minimal amount of bendability. And your goatee tickles…you should shave it."

"But I thought you liked it because it tickled…and I don't think bendability is a word, Kierra." Remus replied.

"But it's also itchy…" said Kierra, ignoring Remus's bendability comment.

"But it makes me feel manly…"

"How? My aunt Gerry has more facial hair than you…"

Remus sniggered along with Kierra. "But also, the other werewolves don't take very kindly to the clean-shaven werewolves...it's just another mark of civilization, you know..."

Kierra rolled her eyes. "Fine. Keep the damn goatee."

"Well, if you really don't like it..."

"What? No, no! It's fine...I like it!" Kierra said quickly. "Actually, I think it's a bit sexy..."

"Really?"

"Yeah..."

Remus rolled his eyes. "You're just saying that..."

"So?"

"It's alright. I'll shave it."

"No, don't!"

"Kierra"--

"Seriously, don't shave it." Kierra cut in sternly.

"Or else?"

Kierra hesitated for a moment, but then smiled knowingly as she pushed Remus back down against the bed and leaned forward until her face was only an inch away from his. "Or else I'll climb out of this bed and stop being dirty. You don't want that, do you?" But before Remus could respond, Kierra kissed him.

"I'll throw my razor away..." Remus murmured when she pulled away from him.

"I know you don't like it when I'm rude and everything, but with all due respect, Remus, please shut up." Kierra replied, kissing him again.

Remus obeyed without hesitation and fell into silence as they explored each other's mouths. And not too soon after, Remus felt himself bucking his hips against Kierra's every now and then, wanting very much to get inside her. It had been nearly a month, Remus estimated, since they had been intimate with each other. What with him always being in Britain with his fellow werewolves, and Kierra always at the university, and the recent adoption of Nora and Jackie, the two hardly found enough time to be alone together. And now they had probably an hour to themselves, it was the perfect moment...

Kierra grunted as Remus pushed her onto her back, and again when he fell on top of her. His mouth pressed hungrily against hers, as did his fingers against her torso. Breathing heavily, she closed her eyes to savor his kisses that began to wander away from her mouth. She craned her neck slightly when his mouth slid in that direction. Eyes still closed, Kierra smiled when she felt his teeth against the side of her neck, with the hairs of his goatee brushing against her skin. He would leave a mark on her, and there was a good chance that people would notice it at work the next day, but at the moment, Kierra could care less. Even though it had only been a few weeks, she had missed his love so much...

She shifted slightly under Remus's weight, spreading open her legs and wrapping them round his narrow waist, in hopes that Remus would take a hint and proceed to take off her pants; or at least unzip his. But he seemed to be fixated on her neck, rubbing his teeth along her now moist skin. He had slowed down considerably though, his mouth working less furiously against her; in fact, it felt as though there was some hesitancy in his movements, and his hands had stopped caressing her hips altogether now as well...he no longer seemed passionate or aroused, yet his mouth against her felt like something familiar. It had some feeling of need to it, but no longer sexually driven...yet it sent shivers down her spine...

Kierra let out a small cry as she pushed Remus away from herself and immediately sat up in bed. She looked wildly around the room, looking at anything but Remus.

"Kierra, what"--

Remus was also sitting up now, and had leaned forward to touch her hand, but Kierra immediately retracted her hand out of his reach.

"I'm sorry..." she breathed, at last looking him in the eyes. "I'm sorry..."

"For what? What's wrong?" asked Remus, though his voice had little conviction in it, and more of a tone of dread, as though he had an idea of what was coming.

"Greyback." Kierra said.

Remus gaped at her. Not what he had been expecting at all...

"You...what you did. Greyback did it to me...you reminded me of him..." she said quietly.

"Oh..."

The two sat in silence for several moments, both staring at their hands in order to avoid having to look at each other. Finally, Kierra glanced over at Remus, who still had his eyes fixed on his hands.

"Remus?"

He looked up.

"You've never wanted to hurt me, have you?"

Remus sighed. The simple answer would be _no, of course not! _But he knew that the answer was much more complicated than that. He cleared his throat, dreading to give the explanation that was long overdue. "Well," he started feebly, "in the broadest sense of the term 'hurt', no...I've never wanted to hurt you and would never do so...neither physically nor emotionally. But Kierra, you know what I am..."

She frowned at him, looking at him for the first time rather timidly. "So...the wolf part of you..." she started, her voice trailing off.

"...has more violent urges than I as a man would ever have." he finished for her, shifting his gaze back to his hands. "Fenrir Greyback has been known to crave human flesh outside the full moon. And so when he put his mouth on you, he was probably trying to fight the urge to bite you...I'm not sure why"--

"He said he was going to wait until you were here to watch." Kierra whispered, now staring off into space. "He wanted you to see me get bitten...and become a werewolf..."

Remus felt the muscles in his right forearm twitch. Just the image of Greyback touching Kierra, saying those words to her, made him want to hurt Fenrir to no end. Not quite sure as to whether his newfound anger was driven by his love for Kierra or just him being a territorial wolf, Remus put his feelings aside in order to continue explaining. "Well, you wouldn't have become a werewolf if you were bitten outside the full moon. But you would have been contaminated and thus might show some werewolf tendencies after being bitten. But this desire for flesh outside the full moon isn't unique to Greyback, I'm afraid. It's a tendency for all werewolves. It's just that he refuses to control that desire because he doesn't care to control his wolfish tendencies. He wants his wolf part to dominate his human side...and many werewolves are like him. Others, myself included, have been raised as witches and wizards, and so we've learned to suppress that side of us. But sometimes we slip up, especially when it's close to the full moon, and also when you have really close, physical contact with a person, being so close to flesh, it becomes harder to control that urge to bite.

"So...you...just now? You wanted to...bite me?" And after a few moments, when Remus did not answer, she spoke again. "I'll take you silence then as a yes. And before...way back, actually, when we were kissing in the school...you were acting the same way. Was it...were you having that urge then as well?"

Remus slowly nodded. He then looked up to see Kierra eye to eye. "I love you though. And believe me when I say that I would never intentionally hurt you. But if you're going to be with me, I'm afraid you may be burdened with pain at some point, either physical or emotional."

Kierra nodded, but said nothing.

"I'll always understand if you ever feel like you can't deal with that. If you're having second thoughts about this whole marriage"--

"What?" Kierra blurted out. She had been sitting quietly, feeling awkward and unsure as to how she should feel, or what she should say in regards to all this. But distancing herself from Remus had never occurred to her. "I'm not having second thoughts about anything, let alone getting married!"

"Oh...ok." Remus said, sighing with obvious relief. "So...are you alright then?"

Kierra smiled, albeit it was a bit forced, and leaned forward to kiss him. "Yes, I'm alright. I'm just...glad I know about all of this..."

Remus pulled away from her, looking concerned. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Absolutely. Now, please continue to sex me up. Nora will probably be home soon, so let's get a move on..." she said seriously.

Remus smiled and moved forward, kissing Kierra as he pushed her down on her back. But almost as soon as Kierra's head hit the pillows, she shot back up, pushing Remus away again.

"I'm sorry..." she started again, shaking her head. "I just...I can't. I'm sorry"--

"It's alright"--

"No...it's not. And I'm sorry! But"--she glanced up at Remus and then turned away, shuddering--"I look at you...and I feel you...but I keep seeing _him_!"

Remus frowned. "You see...Fenrir?"

Kierra nodded.

"In me?"

She nodded again, now looking like she was on the brink of tears. Remus got out of bed and made a grab for his t-shirt, quickly pulling it over his head. "It's alright..." he said quietly.

Kierra shook her head. "It's not...I'm so sorry...look, let's try it again...let's just skip the kissing and"--

Remus smiled ruefully at her as he adjusted the collar on his shirt. "Kierra, you're not over the whole Greyback fiasco yet, quite understandably. It happened only a week ago. You need to give yourself time...and you need to allow yourself to get used to all the information I've given you. Let it sink in...make sure you're absolutely o.k. with me and my...werewolf tendencies."

Kierra got out of bed and followed Remus out of their room. "I am...believe me, I am!" She tugged on the tail of Remus's shirt to stop him from walking any further away from her. "I really, _really_ want to bed you...please?"

Remus smiled. "_Bed _me? That sounds old-fashioned..."

Kierra grinned broadly. "Yes, I'm mocking you. Now, come on...I'm ready..." she said, wrapping her arm around his.

Fighting the urge to give in and have her right then and there, Remus pulled away from Kierra. "Your body's ready, I'm sure...but I don't think you're mentally...don't take this the wrong way!" he added hastily when he saw the dejected look on Kierra's face, "I just don't want you to feel uneasy about getting touched, and I really don't want you to push me away again...it makes me feel so unwanted..." he added in an exaggerated, dejected voice.

Kierra rolled her eyes and was about to reply, when the sound of keys being prattled at the front door could be heard. She followed Remus out to the living room, and a moment later, Nora had appeared at the entrance, armed with several shopping bags.

"I didn't give you_ that _much money!" Kierra exclaimed as Nora locked the door behind her and said hello to her and Remus.

"Madam Annette was having a big sale!" Nora said as she began to dump her purchases on the living room sofa. "And look, Kierra! I found this white jumper that I thought you might like...it was half off, so I bought it for you!"

"Oh!"

Remus watched with mild amusement as Kierra dove forward to claim her sweater. She then picked it up and held it over her front and turned to Remus. "Like it? I tried it on a few weeks ago when it was full price...it makes my boobs look great!"

Kierra wiggled her eyebrows at Remus, who in turn glanced awkwardly at her and then at Nora, who looked on with mild interest. "Er...yeah...I'm sure it does..." he replied, giving Kierra a questioning look that seemed to ask her why she was being so crass in front of her niece.

She giggled and tossed her sweater on the ground. "What? Stop acting like you're too proper to look at my chest, Remus. Nora _does_ know that we're getting married..."

Remus had been about to snap at Kierra, when Nora sniggered at her comment. Instead, he opted to remain silent and just leave the room until Nora was ready to study again.

"Oh, wait!"

Remus stopped as he was about to turn to leave at Nora's request. He glanced down at her, watching her fish through her bags.

"I bought something for you too..." she said, not looking up from her bags.

Remus raised his eyebrows at her in surprise. "Oh! You didn't have to do that..."

"What is it?" Kierra asked, dropping to her knees to dig through Nora's bags. "Is it a beret? I've always told him he'd look cute in a beret, but he never listens..."

Nora sniggered. "No..."

Remus sighed with relief. He hated berets. For some reason, they always made him feel insecure...

"Ah, found it!" Nora said, pulling out an olive green set of robes.

"They're gorgeous!" Kierra exclaimed, getting up and taking the robes. "Here, try them on!"

Remus obeyed, and allowed Kierra to put the robes on over his clothes while he tried to thank Nora. "...really, this is a lot! And there's no occasion that calls for such a nice gift"--

Nora waved a hand dismissively. "It's no biggie..."

Kierra took a few steps away from Remus in order to observe him in his new robes.

"Well?" he asked. "Is olive my colour?"

"_Is _it?" Kierra asked indignantly as she looked him up and down. "Remus, I could just eat with you a spoon..."

Remus could feel himself blushing profusely as the two women giggled. He took off the robes, and as he folded them he said, "you're usually not this...erm...aggressive, shall we say, in front of others, Kierra..."

"Well, what can I say?" Kierra said as she rejoined Nora on the ground to look over her purchases. "You just look _that_ good in green."

Remus rolled his eyes, and thanking Nora again for her gift, retreated to his room.

"Nora will be ready to continue studying in a few minutes!" Kierra called after him.

"If it's alright with Nora..." he replied.

"Works for me!" came Nora's voice.

Remus smiled as he hung his new robes in the closet he shared with Kierra. He had no idea where this sudden, more amiable change in Nora's attitude and behavior had come, but he wasn't about to question it...

* * *

"Come on...I ate like a cow! Let me at least pay for my dinner..." Dominique protested as Kingsley stuck several shiny galleons inside the small bag that contained a roll of parchment that had their bill on it, which Kingsley had refused to allow Dominique to see.

Kingsley rolled his eyes. "Ladies don't pay when they're being taken out for dinner by gentlemen, especially not when they're being taken out by classy gentlemen such as myself." he added with a wink. "And you didn't eat like a cow..."

Dominique smiled. "You're very kind...and a bit full of yourself."

"All the great ones are..." he replied.

"My, hasn't someone put themselves on a pedestal?" Dominique said, raising an eyebrow at him.

Kingsley chuckled. "Only kidding! Now...we're done here...but you didn't have any dessert..."

Dominique pat her stomach. "Because I'm too full..."

"My place is a little less than a block from here. I bet the walk will make some room for dessert..." he pressed.

"I don't know..."

"I have cheesecake..."

Dominique smiled. "You think I'm easily won over by a slice of cheesecake?"

Kingsley grinned. "Yep."

Dominique sighed. "Well, you're right. I am. Let us walk then."

"This is the coolest flat I've ever seen!" Dominique exclaimed twenty minutes later upon entering Kingsley Shacklebolt's studio apartment. It was a mix of magic and muggle. A sleek black Nimbus 2001 propped up in one corner of the room on its own broom stand, a large, flat screened television sitting nearby (if there was anything Dominique loved about muggles, it was the wonders they could do with electricity), a sleeping, black owl in a large silver cage sat near the window, and what she admired the most--a combination of muggle and magical art variations decking the walls. From static posters to moving photographs to paintings, the colors gave life to the room, which was otherwise black and white (and a bit silver here and there) in its furnishings. He had a large, silver framed bed with black pillows and comforters, and on one side of the bed sat two desks, both black and white; one covered with papers and pens and other muggle office supplies, while the other was covered with rolls of parchment, quills, ink bottles and other magical office supplies.

"What's with the desks?" Dominique asked, walking over to his work station to get a better look.

"Oh...one's for my ministry of magic work, and the other is for the muggle ministry..."

Dominique raised an eyebrow at him. "Muggle ministry?"

He nodded. "I'm the Prime Minister's secretary. Doesn't know I'm a wizard, of course. Back when Fudge was in office, he assigned me there to keep an eye on them."

"Wow...so you sort of have two jobs then?"

Kingsley nodded again. "I guess you could say that. It's kind of nice though in one way...I never have to make extra trips to Gringotts to convert my money...it's hellish over there. I get Bill Weasley to do my transactions for me whenever I can..."

Dominique laughed. "It's nice to have insider connections, isn't it?"

"That it is..." Kingsley said as he made his way over to the kitchen space in his apartment. "So, how about some chocolate cheesecake?"

"Do you have to ask?"

She and Kingsley sat down at the sofa to eat their cheesecake, as Kingsley had no kitchen table in his flat. They ate for a few moments in silence, which was broken when Dominique caught Kingsley watching her eat with a look of amusement on his face.

"What's your problem?" she snapped, once she swallowed.

Kingsley chuckled. "Have none. Just watching that cheesecake make love to you..."

Dominique gasped indignantly, but let out a small laugh at the same time. "What?"

"Would you like a mirror so you can see the way you savour every bite?" he asked.

"Stop turning dessert into something X-rated. I just like cheesecake..." Dominique replied.

Kingsley chuckled again. "Woman, you're the one making it X-rated with that look on your face. People only look like that when they shag..."

"Shut up. You're making me sound like a glutton." said Dominique.

"Aw, sorry about that..."

"I doubt it." Dominique muttered, setting her dessert down on the coffee table. "Now you're making me feel all unladylike about my eating habits."

Kingsley smiled. Oh, come on. I was just teasing you. There's no need to get all embarrassed..."

Dominique rolled her eyes. "I know...I'm not _embarrassed_...I mean, why should I be? It's not like we're on a date or anything...now that's when I get self conscious about my eating..."

"Right." Kingsley said, though he was a bit slow in replying. "This isn't a date...so...you can let yourself go! You have no one to impress..."

Dominique laughed and took another bite of cheesecake. Kingsley had laughed too, but had stopped fairly quickly. And soon, his smile had disappeared and he had lapsed into complete silence, busying himself with finishing his dessert.

"So..." Dominique started when they had both finished. She and Kingsley looked on to each other; Dominique wondered what time it was, remembering that she had to get to work early in the morning to tune the class piano.

"So..." Kingsley echoed her. He was staring at her, with his dark, almost black eyes. She was suddenly conscious of how close they were sitting next to each other, and thought to move; she didn't, however, and stayed glued to her seat. Tonks's face was swimming in her head, smiling knowingly at her, saying Kingsley's name with an annoying, gushing emphasis as she tended to do. Suddenly though, her face vanished from Dominique's thoughts when both she and Kingsley leaned forward and kissed.

Initially, it tasted like chocolate and cream cheese, but both flavors melted away soon enough as the kiss was deepened, to Dominique's surprise, by her. For someone whose presence was often felt with power and authority, Kingsley Shacklebolt kissed rather softly. So Dominique pressed him until he gained enough force or confidence (or whatever it was that he was lacking) behind his mouth, and soon he was pressing her against the arm of the sofa, running his hands through her long, black hair, hungrily exploring her mouth with his tongue and allowing her to do the same.

"So..." Kingsley breathed when they pulled away for air, staring at each other in surprise, "now do you consider yourself on a date?"

Dominique tried to back away a little, but found that she could not because she was against the end of the sofa, so she stood up--a bit of a mistake, she thought, as she now felt incredibly dizzy. "Er..."

"Are you alright?" Kingsley asked, immediately getting up as well. He took a step towards Dominique, but stopped when she backed away from him.

"I--I need to get home..." she said, practically squeaking.

"But"--

But there was no point in finishing his sentence, Kingsley found, as Dominique had disapparated on the spot.

Hours later, Dominique lay in bed; asleep, but not soundly. She turned over again under the warmth of her covers, trying to escape...trying to hide from Sirius Black. His face, one that used to never be close enough to her, one that she never saw enough of, was now haunting her. He looked pale and rather morose in her dreams, looking onto her like he was hurt. She hated seeing his face contorted to such a miserable state, and hated even more that she was causing it...


	7. Chapter Seven: Dominique Depressed

A/N: -blushes- I'm not even going to bother with listing excuses…I'll skip straight to the apology…I'm sorry. ( But this chapter came out to be 19 pages if it's of any comfort. ;)

* * *

Chapter Seven: Dominique Depressed

* * *

Remus shuddered as he took another sip of firewhiskey. This was definitely not his choice of drink. He actually disliked it greatly, and usually only drank it at gatherings when no other drink was offered. Here at this pub—however seedy it may be—there were more choices, and would have personally chosen mulled mead over his current drink. However, Gene, a man stricken with lycanthropy for as long as Remus had, had passively mentioned in conversation a few weeks ago that mulled mead was the preferred drink of Fenrir Greyback. And ever since then, mulled mead had become associated with poison in Remus's mind. He knew this sudden dislike for mulled mead was just a squeamish issue in his personal vendetta against Greyback…yet he couldn't stop himself from boycotting almost anything that was associated with the man. Remus glanced down at his rusting watch—it read five minutes after midnight. He wondered how Kierra was faring alone. She had gone to take Nora this morning to Beauxbatons, leaving Jackie in his care—which reminded him—Remus wondered how Jackie was doing…

While Kierra had been fussing over Nora's breakfast, Remus and Jackie had taken off to England. Once in London, the two had paid a visit to Dominique, who had been very eager to baby sit Jackie, claiming that she was tired of the quietness in her flat. He recalled casually suggesting to Dominique that she get together with Tonks or Kingsley more often, as both of them tended to have similar complaints, what with the demand of their jobs giving them little time for a social life. Dominique had at once begun to refute herself by saying that it wasn't _that_ bad being alone. As Remus toyed with the bottle cap of his drink with his fingers, he wondered how Dominique was doing. She had gotten rather tense at his suggestion of socializing with people, and seemed almost relieved when he showed himself out the door. The two of them had once been very close—so close that more than once it had caused some heated disputes amongst themselves and their romantic counterparts at the time—Sirius and Kierra. But now it was different. Sirius was gone. Dominique was still living in England while Remus and Kierra were settling themselves in France. Settling. Were they really settling? Of course, Kierra was already settled there—she had been living there years before he had ever arrived—but was he ready for a permanent settlement there in France? He had only come there to work for the Order, but was now finding himself with a somewhat steady job, a fiancée, and two children to take care of…

"Oi—Lupin!"

Remus choked out a cough (and a fair amount of his firewhiskey) as he felt a heavy hand slap him on the back. He heard the bar stool next to him shift slightly, followed by the sound of someone plopping onto it. Remus couldn't help but feel a mix of relief and dread.

"Walter"—Remus said, shifting slightly in his seat in order to face his company—"didn't hear you arrive"—

Walter chuckled as the bartender slid a dirty-looking shot glass in his direction. He caught it with a swift motion, and downed it immediately. After wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he turned his attention back to Remus.

"So, mate…where've you been? The whole lot here hasn't seen you in weeks…"

Remus shrugged, mentally debating with himself the matter of how much of the truth he could share with Walter. Though he was in Remus's opinion a bit dodgy, he was also probably the one werewolf Remus was making any measurable headway with. Walter seemed to have potential for reform, and was fortunately not completely tied down to Greyback's league. "Well…" he started slowly, "to tell you the truth, I've been sort of stuck at home…my fiancée's suffered a few losses in her family recently."

Walter squinted at Remus as he twirled his shot glass between his fingers. "Who, Karen?"

"Er—yeah, Karen."

Walter let out a hiccup. "What happened?"

"Well," Remus started slowly, "her brother and his wife passed away…they were both fairly young."

"How?"

"Oh—er—natural causes."

"Oh." Walter glanced down at his empty shot glass and sighed. "Sorry to hear it."

Remus nodded curtly. "Well"—

"Y'know my wife, Remus? And my kids?" Walter started, immediately shifting his gaze to Remus.

"Er—you mentioned them before…" Remus replied, hoping that the wariness he currently felt was masked by his countenance. All he knew about Walter's family was that his wife took their children and left him when he was bitten many months back. His guess was that whatever Walter had to say about them now probably wasn't good…

"Well…I found out the other day that they disappeared…I mean, from wherever they were living. Saw their pictures in a paper that I nicked a couple days ago..." said Walter, averting his eyes once again to his shot glass. "Apparently no one's seen them in weeks…"

Remus couldn't help but frown. The last time Walter had mentioned his family, he hadn't shown the slightest sign of remorse—perhaps some bitterness—but certainly no show of sorrow at his wife's leaving him. But now hints of regret were playing upon his features, as he traced the tip of his glass with his index finger. Remus opened his mouth to say something of comfort, perhaps some reassurance that they may turn up, or perhaps asking if he missed them, but immediately closed his mouth when Walter turned his gaze back to him, the look of regret gone from his face.

"So…can I meet Karen?" he asked.

Almost instinctively, Remus felt himself sit up straighter. "Sorry?"

"Can I meet your girlfriend? She sounds interesting…" Walter said.

"Oh"—

"Yeah, maybe the three of us could do something…have dinner or something..." he continued. "What do you say?"

Remus took another sip of firewhiskey to avoid answering right away. In the time it took for him to swallow the fiery liquid, Remus shrugged as nonchalantly as he could, hoping very much that he wouldn't offend Walter. While they were almost always civil with each other, Remus had seen Walter's reactions to the slightest offenses made by other people, and was certain that he would not be able to physically endure a few blows from the man sitting next to him.

"I don't know…"

"C'mon"—Walter pressed, hiccupping as he leaned in closer to Remus—"I'll even dress up nice and everything…go to one of 'em fancy places…"

"Fancy places?" asked Remus, cocking an eyebrow at Walter.

"Yeah"—Walter paused to let out a small belch—"you know, wherever you polished wolves go…with the rest of them society wizards…like cafes and bistros or whatever…"

Remus laughed, and shook his head ruefully. "I'm hardly a polished werewolf, Walter. And I'm definitely not a…erm…society wizard. I'm as broke as you are…"

"Right." Walter scoffed. "Come off it. You've got a nice place to live"—

"Well, just a place to live. It's not very nice…" Remus said with a shrug.

"You have a job"—

"…that I hardly go to…and I get paid very little because of that…"

"I'm sure it's enough though…I mean, you've got a woman who's stickin' to yeh…that's got to say something about your status…women don't go for deadbeats."

Remus shrugged again. "That says nothing about my status. I was just lucky enough to meet a woman who doesn't care about where I fit into society."

"Come off it…all women care at least a little."

"Really…" Remus pressed, casting a sideways glance at Walter as he drained the last of his firewhiskey. "It's actually unnerving sometimes how little she cares. I mean, her social status is ten times higher than mine…she carries twice the burden I carry—financially, emotionally…I feel like in every aspect of our life she has more responsibility and does much more than me. And in all of this, she seemed completely unperturbed by my condition and all the liabilities that it presents. She just…likes me…"

"In spite of all the wolf madness, eh?" Walter asked.

"Madness included, I think…" Remus found himself saying more to himself than aloud.

It took a moment for his words to wash over himself. It was true. Kierra seemed oblivious to the fact that she was carrying him around on her shoulders…or perhaps she was conscious of it, and was simply being patient. In either case, Remus could not help but feel a bit disgruntled. It was _his_ job to carry _her_ . It was his responsibility to take care of Nora and Jackie. He should be spending as much time, if not more time at Aveyron Academy than Kierra. Of course in all honesty, he knew circumstances were not in their control and it was no one's fault that their relationship was the way it was. Yet that didn't stop him from feeling a bit irritated with his inability to contribute more to Kierra, Jackie or Nora's well-being…

"Sounds like some woman…" Walter said rather hoarsely, as another shot glass full of rum came his way gliding across the counter. "So let me know when you can bring her around, eh?"

* * *

As Kierra made her way down the dimly lit corridor outside the office of Olympe Maxime, she looked over her shoulder once more to smile at Nora, who was standing next to her new headmistress, smiling back at her aunt. Madam Maxime had put one of her giant hands over Nora's shoulder, and while Nora seemed to be leaning backwards slightly by the weight of it, she did not look entirely distressed at parting with her aunt. In fact, she looked rather excited.

Not excited in a 'happy to get away from the guardians' excited, Kierra reasoned as she headed outside the castle and away from the grounds, but excited about the new phase of her life. Perhaps she had finally come to her senses in realizing the practicality of her going to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts and was now looking forward to meeting new people. But that didn't make much sense. Nora was shy and tended to get anxious about meeting new people. In fact, when Nora had been about to start at Hogwarts four years ago, she had written Kierra, begging her to talk some sense into her parents so she wouldn't have to change schools. "Muggles are human too," she remembered Nora's scribbled handwriting to say, "their schools are just as good, and I don't want to leave it!" So why would Nora suddenly be excited about being here? Only days ago she was presiding broodingly in her room, barely speaking to anyone, particularly Remus, and extremely uncooperative in her French lessons. Almost overnight though, she had grown considerably fonder of the French language, and had begun to lap up French at exponential rates. She had also grown considerably warmer towards Remus, and had even taken to calling him by his first name without any hint of awkwardness when he left for England with Jackie yesterday. And suddenly, Kierra's mind switched gears at the mere passing thought of Jackie…

Was she alright? Did Remus take her to Dominique as she had requested? Kierra had sent an express owl to Dominique two nights ago, begging her to take Jackie off Remus's hands whenever she could. It wasn't that she didn't trust Remus or anything…but he could hardly take her to Merlin knows where the other werewolves tend to lurk about. Kierra had wanted to take care of Jackie herself, but she had to be at work in a few hours, and would be there for the rest of the day and a fair part of the evening. Perhaps later on in the evening she would take a break and check in with Dominique…

Kierra crossed the street that led to the business sector of Paris—well, the wizarding business sector of Paris, anyway. She could now apparate back to Aveyron if she wanted, but since she had a few hours before having to be back at work, perhaps she could hang around here for a little while. Kierra loved Paris, with all its diversions—both muggle and wizard. So many historical sites, so many stores…and suddenly, Kierra felt an overwhelming urge to explore a few shops. She hadn't gone shopping in quite a while. But just as she began to look for signs of robe shops, she immediately felt a pang of guilt. She hadn't shopped in a while because she wasn't supposed to. Of course, she knew Remus would never reproach her and tell her not to spend, since it was her money…but still, they agreed that they should try to save up for a house. The apartment was rather small and stuffy, even without Nora and Jackie. Sure, Nora was off to school now, and Jackie was just a baby…but Nora would be back on holidays, and Jackie would inevitably become too big for her crib…they needed a bigger place.

And then there was the wedding. They both wanted to keep it simple…but they knew so many people, and France was generally an expensive place to get married…they were actually now considering having the wedding in England, since most of their friends were there anyway, as well as their few relatives…Kierra sighed as she passed by a shop window that featured models in beautiful pastel coloured dress robes. She had a fleeting image of Remus, glancing over her purchases and telling her the things she bought were nice, but privately worrying about their savings…and the thought of Remus being uneasy about their finances simply made her feel uneasy.

Overridden by guilt, Kierra opted out of her impromptu shopping trip and decided to head home. However, as she turned the corner of a street called Ambroise, Kierra's stomach let out a low grumble. She needed food, not having eaten all day. But what was there at home? Remus had made some sort of pasta casserole last night for dinner, but she knew for a fact no leftovers remained. Kierra had begun to mentally list all the ingredients she might find at home in hopes that she might hit a creative spurt and make her own lunch, when she found Le Saladier. It was a small, quaint-looking café that smelled of fresh baked bread and coffee beans. Deciding that she was too tired to disapparate and cook something for herself, Kierra let herself in, and within a few minutes had seated herself at a small table in one corner of the busy restaurant with her croissant and cup of tea.

Kierra glanced around as she took a bite of her croissant. The place seemed to be filled with mostly professional witches and wizards off on their lunch breaks. At the table next to her for instance, sat three men who were all dressed in elegant black robes, talking swiftly in French about problems with some sort of legislation. They must have been board members of some organization, having a meeting. She had been about to turn her attention back to her lunch, when she overheard one of the men say 'werewolves'. Immediately, Kierra's ears perked up to the conversation, wondering what they could possibly be talking about. As the men continued to have their discussion, Kierra's brain worked furiously to translate and process all that they were saying…

"I'm really in two minds about them," one man seemed to have said, "we have a fair population of them in France and we could use all the minority groups' support we could get"—

"And the people generally haven't shown that much hostility towards werewolves…they may not react as badly as you think if you try to pursue all the halfbreed groups…" said another man with a hoarse voice.

Kierra shifted slightly in her seat so she could see the first man who spoke. He was a middle-aged man, with jet black hair that was combed back in a sleek hairstyle. He was shaking his head, looking a bit disgruntled. She recognized him from somewhere…he was rather good looking—perhaps she had seen him in a magazine or newspaper…

"I'm not too sure," the dark haired man said, "attacks have been increasing this past year…and what with You-Know-Who's return in Britain, the image of halfbreeds have been getting even worse. I'm just not sure if we're ready to associate ourselves with any of them…we might find our ratings dropping significantly if we make this move…"

The third man spoke up, his voice rather cheery compared to the other two men. "Now Vincent, your ratings have been up since you entered the race! People believe in you! I don't think they'll doubt you for any political moves you make…"

The man named Vincent took a sip of his coffee, and set his mug down with a heavy thud. "Pierre, one of your biggest problems is that you have always misestimated the public. They're a lot smarter than you think, and also a lot dumber than you think. Did you see how Dumont's ratings dipped when he suggested we cut off ties with the British ministry? I feel the same way as him there, but he made his feelings about it more public, and that's the main reason I'm doing better than him right now…"

Kierra could feel her eyes widen slightly. Vincent. Now she knew who that was…Vincent Comte…he was running for the position of one of the governors in the French ministry of against current governor Jules Dumont. She had read something in the newspaper about a speech Dumont had given, something about the French wizarding world being in danger of being victimized by the war that had recently broken out in Britain, and that the French would be best off distancing themselves from the British ministry, as well as all those working against Voldemort in order to assure their safety.

Codswallop, Kierra thought to herself. Voldemort's followers were probably already infiltrating France and other neighboring countries—slowly but surely. Alienating French politics from British was absolutely stupid in Kierra's opinion…and alienating certain groups in a political race was even stupider. Did Vincent have any idea how much his popularity would boost if he were to get support of halfbreeds? There were so many in France—even more here than in the entire Great Britain…of course, there would be problems with publicly associating oneself with them—being engaged to a werewolf, Kierra had some first-hand experience in that…but still, there were ways around it—

"Oi"—

Completely engrossed in the politicians' conversation, Kierra had let her elbow hit her cup of tea, sending it sliding across her table. Luckily, she managed to save it before it spilled to the ground. Kierra glanced sideways, and saw that the men had turned their attention to her. Feeling herself blush, Kierra sat up straighter in her seat and took a sip of her drink. When she was sure they had turned away from her, Kierra chanced a glance in their direction. They were all looking at each other, appearing to be slightly amused. She could feel herself blush at her clumsiness. They had obviously witnessed it. Had they also noticed her listening to their conversation? Perhaps she ought to just leave in order to avoid further ridicule…

"Mademoiselle, would you care to share your opinion with us?"

Kierra had gotten up from her seat and was getting ready to leave, but turned around immediately to face the men. It was Vincent who had spoken, in very good English. She glanced around quickly, wondering if perhaps one of their colleagues was standing behind her. When she found no one, she glanced at Vincent uncertainly. "Who—me?"

He and his colleagues all smiled. "Yes, of course!" he said, conjuring up a chair for her. "This isn't the first time I've had eavesdroppers sitting in on my meetings"—

"Oh…sorry…" Kierra stammered, taking a seat.

"…but I have to admit I've never seen anyone listening so keenly." He said with a laugh. "What is your name, my dear?"

"Er…Kierra." She replied, glancing around nervously. The other two men were watching her with great interest.

"Lovely name," Vincent replied. "My name is Vincent Comte, and I'm actually running for position of"—

"…governor in the French ministry of magic, I know…" Kierra said, smiling sheepishly.

The man named Pierre chuckled and nudged the third man in the arm. "Bet you a galleon she won't know who we are though…"

Vincent smiled and turned to Kierra. "This is Pierre Durand and Serge Bardot…they are my campaign managers and closest advisors."

Kierra shook hands with each of them. "Pleased to meet you."

"Are you a tourist visiting Paris?" Serge asked as he shook Kierra's hand.

"Er—sorry?"

Serge laughed. "My apologies…I figured since you were English, you may be. But judging by your surprise I suppose you aren't. Are you a resident here then?"

"Well…I live in Aveyron, actually." Kierra replied. "And how did you know I was English? I mean, besides hearing me speak…you all switched into English before you even heard me talk."

Pierre chuckled. "You said 'oi' when you almost spilled your drink. That, I am happy to say, is an utterance you would never hear from a Frenchman."

Kierra smiled wryly. "And the French wonder why the whole world thinks them arrogant…"

This time, all three men laughed. "We do not wonder," Vincent said, "we _know_ we are arrogant. Only we do not see it as negatively as the rest of the world does. Our language is very dear to us, and so we guard it proudly and fondly from any force that may threaten its delicate beauty."

"I'll drink to that…" Pierre murmured, raising his glass and lightly hitting it against Surge's and Vincent's before taking a sip.

"So…your French is good?" Vincent asked Kierra.

She shrugged. "Good enough…"

He chuckled in response. "Good enough to understand everything we said?"

Kierra couldn't help but blush. "Well…yes. The gist of it anyway…you were talking about your possible platform with werewolves and half-breeds in general, right?"

Vincent was rubbing his temples in a circular motion, and smiling wearily. "Yes, we were."

Kierra nodded. "Well, I couldn't help but overhear…you agree with Jules Dumont about France remaining neutral in the war?"

"Well, yes"—

"But that's ridiculous! Voldemort's followers are probably already infiltrating France and getting support…there's no way you'd able to keep us neutral…we'd have to go back and ally ourselves with Britain eventually anyway once we get screwed over…we might as well stand by them now…"

Kierra bit down on her lip as she saw the three men share glances. Perhaps it _wasn't_ really her business to come in and offer her suggestions to a political candidate. They were probably going to ask her to leave now. Well, if that was to happen, she might as well say all that was on her mind before they got the chance to ask her to go…

"…and I don't think it's a good idea to be alienating minority groups at all, monsieur," Kierra said half an hour later over her second cup of tea, "so what if the public is against it? If you're sympathetic towards werewolves and goblins and whomever, you should act on it."

Pierre smiled. "My dear, the problem is that if we associate ourselves with the various half-breed groups, Vincent here would lose for sure. He would probably be getting death threats daily…"

"Well, who says you have to make it public?" Kierra asked. "I say you approach the werewolves, the goblins, giants…all of them…and try to get their support…and if you promise them the freedom they've been denied all their lives, you would definitely win it. And at the same time, the public will be ignorant of it and still love you. It's a win-win situation, really…"

Serge sighed. "That's rather deceptive…"

"Well, are you politicians or are you politicians?" Kierra asked, smiling wryly at him.

Serge in turn, chuckled. "Are _you_ a politician, my dear? Or an aspiring one?"

Kierra blushed. "No, of course not! I'm just a teacher. But I have gotten quite interested in them these past few years…ever since I moved here, really. Politics in the British ministry of magic's a bit dirtier and harder to follow….it's more straightforward over here. And besides, I…well, I happen to be close to some people who would classify as 'half-breeds', and so I feel a bit strongly about this whole issue…"

Kierra looked down at her watch and gasped. "Oh no…I was supposed to be back in Averyron by now…I've got a class in a little bit."

She quickly got up and collected her things, muttering apologies to the men for intruding on their meeting as she did so.

"…no need to say sorry, my dear!" Vincent said, waving a hand at her dismissively. "Tell me, what are you doing this evening?"

"Er—nothing important, really…just grading papers. Why?" Kierra asked.

"Be so kind as to leave your address. I would love to impose myself for dinner at your house, if that's alright, and hear some more of what you've got to say. You've certainly brought some interesting perspective to the table that I could definitely benefit from. Is 7 o'clock alright with you?"

"Better make it 8…" Pierre said, glancing at Vincent. "You know that interview with _Le Critique _ is going to run longer…"

"Ah, right…" Vincent muttered. "8 o'clock then?"

"8 o'clock works for me…" Kierra said as she scribbled her address on a napkin and handed it to Vincent.

"Excellent…" he replied, tucking the napkin in his pocket. He and the others shook hands with Kierra once more. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Kierra, and I'll see you in a few hours."

Kierra couldn't help but beam as she headed out of the café. Governor candidate Vincent Comte wanted to meet with _her_…not that he was a giant celebrity or anything, but still…if he became governor, he would be a very powerful man. And _she _ was suddenly advising him. Well, not officially…Pierre and Serge were his official advisors, but still…Kierra could not help but feel flattered that such an important person would want to hear her ideas. As She apparated back into her office to get ready for her next class, she made a mental note to as much research as possible on Vincent Comte and his particular political associations before he came over for dinner…

* * *

Dominique had just begun to doze off on her couch, when a sudden rapping at her door startled her, causing her to sit up straight, letting the opened book resting on her lap to slide onto the ground.

"Who is?" Dominique asked as she stumbled over to the door. She looked through the tiny glass peephole, to see Remus standing tiredly in cold.

"Remus…" he said with a yawn."

Dominique frowned and glanced at the clock, which was nearly impossible to see in the darkness. She thought it read 3 AM.

"I thought you were supposed to be coming around dawn…" Dominique said quietly, as to not wake up Jackie, who slept soundly in her room. "Er"—Dominique paused for a moment, feeling stupid at even considering following the ministry's silly safety guidelines—"who's my favorite composer?"

Remus chuckled. "I didn't think you were one to take the ministry so seriously, Dominique…and I believe your favorite composer is Bizet…"

Dominique smiled sheepishly as she opened the door and greeted him. "I was only wary because you said you would come around dawn, Remus…" Dominique said quietly as she turned a light on.

Remus sighed as he followed Dominique to her room to collect Jackie. "Yes, well…that was the plan, as that's when I'm usually able to get away from the gang…but everyone dispersed a little early tonight…we sort of…erm…gotkickedoutofthepub…" he muttered quickly.

Dominique, however, clearly heard him and giggled, staring wide-eyed at Remus. "Remus Lupin getting kicked out of a pub…that's not something you hear often…"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said as he smiled down at the sleeping Jackie, "I am a regular bad boy…"

He had begun to reach down to pick up Jackie, but Dominique stopped him. "You might wake her up…let her sleep. You stay here the night…I mean, you look exhausted yourself.

"Oh…I'm not too tired," Remus replied. "I slept all day, since I knew I'd be out late…"

"Excellent, because I'm not tired either. You woke me up, so it'll take me hours to fall asleep again…" Dominique said, leading Remus out of her room and into the living room.

"I'm sorry"—

"No, not at all…I'm well rested. And wide awake now…all those cups of coffee I had earlier are kicking in again…" she cut in.

Remus shook his head at her in dismay as he sat next to her on the sofa.

Dominique raised an eyebrow at him. "What? I _needed _ it. Jackie is an extremely hyper active child."

"She is not…"

Dominique shrugged. "Maybe it was her environment that got her riled up then. All the other children…"

"Other children?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, well…you know, I work at an elementary school. There tend to be children there…" Dominique replied, smiling wryly at Remus. She then frowned at him almost immediately. "Look, I know you've been busy lately, but really…you _do_ know what I do for a living, don't you?"

"Did you take Jackie with you to work?" Remus asked.

"Well, I couldn't leave her here by herself…"

"You didn't have to do that…why didn't you just tell me you couldn't watch her?"

"But I could! And I did…"

"I didn't mean to inconvenience you…I mean, if I knew"—

"It's not a big deal." Dominique cut in. "Don't worry about it, Remus. Actually, it was fun. The kids loved her…well, the kids love any distraction…you know how they are."

Remus nodded, smiling fondly at the memories he had of students and the hopeful looks they always had when some student or professor came in and needed to 'borrow' him from the class, which had always presented itself to be the perfect opportunity to waste class time.

"…and Jackie had fun too…she seems to enjoy attention, and she really seems to like music. Every time I went to the piano, she's stand by my side and start dancing."

Remus laughed. "Dancing? Really?"

"Yeah, well…the only way babies know how to dance…wiggling their hips and clapping their hands…why do you sound so surprised? Doesn't she act like that at home?"

Remus shrugged. "No, not really…"

It suddenly occurred to him that he did not really know how Jackie acted. She cried when she was hungry or needed changing, or when she hurt herself, and she giggled when she saw something amusing…she spent a good amount of time sleeping or in Kierra's company while he was away…or when Kierra was busy at work she was being babysat by Kierra's friend Elinor. This sudden realization gave Remus an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach. He and Kierra were too busy for Jackie. They weren't spending enough time with her, and were dismissing it because she was just a baby and didn't really need anything except feeding and changing. Remus felt like cringing at his idiocy. Of course they hadn't expected to become parents overnight…yet it happened and they were not putting the required effort into it. Jackie needed attention, and they were giving her the minimum amount…

Everyone would always tell him that he would be a great family man. His parents, his friends…he distinctly recalled James in his pre-Lily days, jokingly predicting that Remus would be the first to get married of the marauders…that his life would be littered with tacky, woolly sweater vests and many wolfish children who would adore their "moony, loony daddy." James, of course, had been abysmal at divination—real or mock—and had obviously been incorrect…

Dominique, who had let Remus sit in silence for a few moments, frowned at her friend. He looked slightly disgruntled by her comments on Jackie. She, however, decided not to press the subject.

"Er…so…how was your thing today?" she asked awkwardly.

Remus looked up at her expectantly. "My thing?"

"You know, with the others…at the pub."

Remus shrugged again, to Dominique's dismay. She hated it when he shrugged—it was too indifferent for Remus's personality. "I told you about Walter, didn't I?"

Dominique nodded slowly. "Interesting chap. What about him?"

"He wants to meet Kierra. Well, Karen."

"Er—Karen?"

He shrugged yet again. "I told him her name was Karen when I first met him…I don't know why…it sort of came automatically."

"Aww….protective!" Dominique said with a giggle.

"I guess…"

Dominique frowned, fighting the urge to kick Remus for his apathetic mood. "So…he wants to meet her? What did you say?"

"What else could I say? I had no excuse on hand, so I had to say yes."

Dominique mused for a bit. "I don't think Kierra will mind."

"She will."

"Oh, Remus"—

"No, she will. She'll be afraid to go. She's already extremely against me mixing with them, and has complained to Dumbledore more than once about my safety, as well as hers and the kids'…understandably too, I mean…she's not over Greyback's attack. Neither of us has forgotten what he said to her a few weeks ago. He doesn't want me mixing with other werewolves, and Kierra's afraid of what's going to happen if I keep doing so. She doesn't want me near them, so I imagine she won't want to get near them either…"

There was a long pause following Remus's statement. Finally, Dominique broke the silence. "But by the way you talk about him, Walter doesn't seem too dangerous. I mean, he seems a bit…oafish…but fairly harmless…"

"Well, I wouldn't say harmless…but he's definitely nicer than some werewolves." Remus said with a sigh. "I don't know…I guess I'll have to wait and see how Kierra takes it, and I'll figure out what to do from there…"

Dominique nodded, staring at the empty coffee table in front of them. She stood up quickly. "I'm so sorry…I didn't offer you anything to drink…can I get you something? Water? Juice…or something to eat maybe?"

"Er—actually, any drink in a clean glass will do. The pub we were at was filthy…I probably would've been better off rummaging in the rubbish bins for my dinner…"

"Sounds disgusting," Dominique said as she headed to the kitchen to fetch Remus some butterbeer. "Where was this pub anyway?"

"Knockturn Alley." Remus replied. "Which reminds me…I ran into Kingsley tonight."

"Oh? At the pub?"

"Outside it, actually."

"What was he doing in Knockturn Alley?"

Remus shrugged. "I assumed it was business. The ministry is running raids like crazy these days…"

"Oh, right…" Dominique replied as she brought two tall glasses of butterbeer, handing one glass to Remus. "What?" she asked when she saw him looking at her rather questioningly.

"Is everything alright between you and Kingsley?"

"Er—I think so. Why?"

Remus took a sip of his drink, looking slightly confused. "I don't know…when I saw him tonight he asked about you."

"What's wrong with that?"

"The way he asked. He actually hesitated before he asked how you were…and then asked if I had seen you lately…and when I asked if everything was alright, he seemed to be in a hurry all of a sudden and had to go."

"Oh…"

"You have no idea what that was about?" Remus asked.

Dominique shrugged. "No…it doesn't even sound like anything. He asked about me and then he realized he had to go…what's the big deal?"

"Never mind…I'm probably just really tired…imagining things or something…" Remus said, shaking his head wearily.

Dominique smiled. "My offer stands. You're welcome to sleep here..."

"I suppose…maybe just a few hours." Remus replied, looking at his watch. "But only a few—Kierra is leaving for work early tomorrow and I want to get back before she leaves…I haven't seen much of her since term started." He added rather hesitantly.

Dominique smiled and agreed to wake him up in a few hours, and after they had finished their drinks, Dominique had made him a make-shift bed, and they had all gone to sleep. As Jackie was sleeping in Dominique's bed, Dominique had made Remus's bed on the sofa and her own on the floor. Remus however, threatened to immediately leave with Jackie if Dominique slept on the floor, and so she currently found herself lying on her sofa, while Remus slept on the ground. She smiled as she stared at his sleeping figure. He looked so tired, yet she would have to wake him up in approximately three hours so he could get to Aveyron in time to see Kierra before she went to work. Of course, he could have stayed and gotten a full eight hours of sleep and waited to see Kierra when she got back from work, but Remus had flatly refused, saying that he missed Kierra and didn't want to wait until the evening to see her. Dominique hugged her blankets closer to her, still smiling as she thought of Remus. He was so devoted to Kierra, and she knew likewise that Kierra was devoted to him.… _I want to get back before she leaves _…he had said earlier...so typically sweet of Remus.

She sighed as her happiness for Remus and Kierra began to quickly melt away, and being replaced by an empty feeling. She knew those feelings of lust, of infatuation…and she missed feeling like that…the determination and frustration with fitting in time for loved ones…she missed it. She no longer had anyone to make time for. She thought briefly of Kingsley…how he kissed—how they kissed. Before Dominique could stop herself, a tiny smile cracked from her mouth as she thought of the prospects of being with Kingsley. But almost immediately, the smile was replaced by a frown. He was a younger man…not that much younger, but still…she was eight years older than him. And then there was Sirius. She couldn't stop thinking of him. Of course, he was gone now and he would never come back…and it only seemed sensible that she move on…but she couldn't. She felt bound to his memory.

Dominique sat up in bed, imagining what he would think…what he would wish. Sirius wouldn't want her to wallow and be alone, would he? For an instant, she thought that maybe he would. And the moment the thought had formed in her mind, tears poured out of her eyes from guilt at even considering Sirius that way. He was not a cruel man. She was certain that he had loved her…and while he tended to resent it when she wasn't attentive to him, it did not make him so selfish that he would want her to swear celibacy to honor his death. Yet she wasn't certain anymore…she didn't want to go near another man again if it would have hurt Sirius…but she didn't know. They never discussed the possible scenario of one of them dying. It had always been, _when the ministry finds out you're innocent, we're going to get remarried and adopt children like we always wanted…and we're going to go out together, and let everyone see us together_…but it had never happened. Sirius was gone, and Dominique was finding herself rather miserable in her solitude. She was also starting to find herself rather attracted to Kingsley…and she needed to figure out what to do, knowing full well that she would not be able to avoid him forever…

* * *

Feeling slightly groggy, Remus arrived at his and Kierra's flat at 7:30 in the morning. He had been expecting to find her rolling out bed, cranky and upset with herself for oversleeping as she tended to do. Today, however, he found her running excitedly out of the kitchen to greet him.

"I have never seen you so awake in the morning…" Remus said, smiling tiredly as Kierra took Jackie out of his arms and kissed her on the cheek.

Kierra grinned as she led him to the kitchen, where she placed Jackie in her highchair. "Well, I had a good night's rest! Here, I was expecting you to come by right about now, so I've made you breakfast'—she ushered Remus to the kitchen table, where breakfast was already ready—"Scrambled eggs, toast _and_ orange juice…freshly squeezed." She added, grinning cutely at him.

"Freshly squeezed orange juice?" he asked, looking at her with mixed skepticism and amusement. "Kierra, you're usually struggling to make it out the door on time with a bagel in your mouth…you must've gotten up really early…what's wrong with you?"

Kierra made a face at him. "I just wanted to do something nice for my fiancé…"

Remus frowned at her. "Sorry…"

Kierra smiled as leaned forward to comb her fingers through Remus's unkempt hair. "I should get going in a few minutes…but we need to talk…"

Remus nodded. "Yes, we do…"

"Oh? Do you have something too? You go first then…" Kierra said, glancing over briefly at Jackie to make sure she was eating her breakfast.

"Alright…well, do you remember Walter? Got bitten several months back…"

Kierra nodded. "Sure I do…did you see him yesterday?"

"Yes, I did…we talked for a bit…and er…you sort of came up." Remus said, looking uncertainly at Kierra. "And…well, he expressed an interest in meeting you. He suggested that the three of us do dinner sometime…I told him yes, simply because it was on the spot…and well, he wouldn't have taken no for an answer anyway…so I hope that's alright with you. If it isn't," he added hastily, "I'll try to come up with an excuse for you then…"

Kierra smiled. "No, no…don't. I'd love it if we could all go out together. It would be interesting…and anyway, the experience might just be helpful to Vincent Comte." She said, her grin broadening.

Remus cocked an eyebrow at her. "Vincent Comte? As in the man running for governor over here?"

"Yep."

"Against Jules Dumont?"

"Uh huh."

"Er—you've lost me."

"I met him yesterday!" Kierra squealed. "In Paris, after I had dropped off Nora at Beauxbatons!" And she went on to explain her encounter with the political candidate and his advisors.

"…and when he came over for dinner…it was just great, Remus!" Kierra gushed as she packed her briefcase for work. "We talked until like, 1 a.m…and we had such similar political views! It was so cool…talking to a politician…having him listen to me, like we were equals…"

Remus smiled slightly at her. "You i are /i equals, dear…"

Kierra laughed. "Well, yeah…but I mean…someone like him…he's really up there politically and socially, you know? _And_ he's a writer! I didn't know that, but apparently he's got a few books published…it'll be so exciting to work with him…"

"Work with him?" Remus asked. He had been shuffling through his own papers from work, but stopped immediately at hearing Kierra's words.

"Yeah!" Kierra said excitedly, apparently not noticing Remus's surprise. "He wants me to join his campaign team and help him. And you know what that means if he wins…"

Remus looked at her expectantly.

She sighed, rolling her eyes as she did so. "Political connections! This is just what the Order of the Phoenix needs! I mean, I know we have Elinor's husband there too, but he's an auror…and Vincent would be much higher up on the ladder if he were governor…"

Remus nodded. "Right. So…you accepted his proposal for you to join him?"

"Of course, silly! How could I pass up an opportunity like this?" Kierra said, shutting her briefcase and pausing to look at Remus, who looked slightly put out. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know if you should do this." He said.

Kierra raised an eyebrow at him. "What? Why?"

He shrugged. "Well…politics is an extremely dirty game, Kierra. Even if you're not directly involved in it…you'll still get a whiff of the dirt, and it'll take a lot of your time and energy…"

"But I don't mind!" Kierra said bracingly. "And this is a great cause! This is Vincent Comte! You said yourself once that you liked him…"

Remus frowned. "Yes…I know I did. And I still do. He seems like a very good candidate…but…"

"But?" Kierra asked, her tone becoming slightly impatient. She had glanced down at her watch and realized that she needed to get to work.

"But…I don't like parts of his image…" Remus said with some hesitation, knowing full well that this discussion would not lead to anything good. "I know quite a bit about Comte…and I know he's got a reputation for being a bit of a playboy"—

"Oh, Remus"—

"And I know that's not that big a deal…as long as he's a good guy doing his job properly…and I have no doubt that he would, and definitely support him for that…but supporting him by voting for him is one thing, and supporting him by giving him time and energy that we can't spare is a whole other matter…"

"I have time and energy to spare, Remus…"

Remus sighed as Jackie broke out into a cry from the kitchen. "Do you?"

But before Kierra could answer, Remus had gone into the kitchen to tend to Jackie, who apparently just wanted to be held. As Kierra followed Remus into the kitchen and found him holding Jackie, who was currently pressing her fingers into Remus's goatee, she sighed. "Of course I do."

"Kierra, you don't even have time to finish this conversation." Remus replied. "You have to be at work in a few minutes…and that's exactly why I don't think you should dedicate yourself to Comte's campaign…you work full time…and you have Nora and Jackie!"

"I have time"—Kierra began to say, but Remus cut her off.

"When I went to pick up Jackie, Dominique was telling me about how she took her to work…and how when she played the piano, Jackie would dance…and…well, I thought it was sad."

"How is that sad?" Kierra asked. "I think it's cute…"

"I've never seen Jackie dance around…have you?"

At this, Kierra felt herself involuntarily bowing her head down. She hadn't. And now she knew what Remus was getting at…

"I was just thinking about how crazy it was to leave Jackie with Dominique. I mean, I would put my life in Dominique's hands…but she lives in another country, Kierra…One of our babysitters lives in a whole other country…and that's insane. Jackie is ours now…and she needs much more attention than that we're giving her, don't you think? I can't even remember the last time I sat down for more than hour with her to play…actually, I don't even think I have. I don't think you have either. We're just so busy we throw her a few toys or drop her off at Elinor's or someone's…and that's not fair to Jackie, don't you think?"

Kierra sighed. "You know I agree with you…" she said quietly.

Remus bit his lower lip, feeling slightly guilty in knowing that he had made Kierra feel guilty. To redeem himself slightly, he put and arm around her. "I'm not saying you have to drop Vincent and spend every waking moment with Jackie…but just consider what I've said. I won't stop you from getting involved in the campaign if that's what you really want…but just remember our other responsibilities too."

Kierra smiled slightly. "I know. And I promise, I'll think about all of this…I really do like Vincent, and working with him looks pretty exciting…but if it seems like it'll cut into work—and Nora and Jackie, of course"—she added hastily—"I'll quit helping him with the campaign right away…does that work for you?"

Remus sighed resignedly. "Only if you also fit me into your schedule...I want your attention too, you know…"

Kierra laughed at the expression on Remus's face. She loved how adorable he could be… "And if I don't give it to you," she said with mock caution, "will you go off and start having an affair with some young tart whenever you go back to England?"

"I never thought about that, but thank you for the suggestion…I'll hold onto it in case it ever comes to that." Remus said with a grin.

"See?" Kierra said, grabbing her briefcase, "We'd be such a perfect political family…neglected children and spouses, sex scandals…"

"Right. Sorry…not a joking matter, we'll work on that…" Kierra said quickly when Remus looked at her reproachfully.

"Come home soon…" Remus said as he opened the door for her.

Kierra smiled. "Will do. Oh and hey—I did get to finish this conversation with you after all…"

"But you're late for work now…"

Kierra looked at her watch and swore as she disapparated to work. Remus couldn't help but laugh, though as he turned around and re-entered the apartment with Jackie still in his arms, he sighed ruefully, wondering just how long Kierra would try to juggle all her priorities before she—or himself—would break.


	8. Chapter Eight: Lupin's Letdown

A/N: (mumbles apologies and hurries away)

* * *

Chapter Eight: Lupin's Letdown

* * *

Kierra shifted slightly in bed as she listened to the somewhat distant sound of birds chirping. She had never been so thankful for the weekend. She had no idea what time it was, but Kierra guessed it was somewhere close to noon. She rolled onto her side, half expecting to find Remus laying next to her, smiling tiredly at her. But the bed was empty save for her. Then she heard the sound of Remus fumbling with something in the kitchen. Fighting the urge to remain in her place, Kierra slowly rolled out of bed and headed towards the kitchen.

"What the hell is that smell?" Kierra muttered as she walked into the kitchen, startling Remus, who had been sitting at the table buttering toast but ended up buttering his hand instead from the surprise.

"Er—morning to you too." Remus replied, looking slightly hurt. "That smell is breakfast…I also made some coffee for you…"

Kierra smiled sheepishly when she saw the disconcerted look on his face. "I'm sorry…you're so sweet…and cute, and—I'm sorry, did you say you made coffee?" she asked, catching a glance at the full coffee pot sitting at the kitchen table.

"Yes"—

"Oh, I love you…" Kierra muttered, plopping into the chair across from Remus and making a grab for the coffee mug resting near her.

"So…your love is based on my performance in the kitchen? I feel somewhat safe then." Remus replied, smiling slightly as Kierra began pouring herself coffee while simultaneously reaching across the table for a slice of toast.

"Don't be silly." Kierra said as she bit off a large chunk of toast. "My love is based on your performance in other rooms of this flat."

"You've been up for only a few minutes and you're already in dirty mode?" Remus asked as he tried to coax Jackie—who had been sitting next to him in her highchair—into drinking her milk.

"I'm _always_ in dirty mode."

Remus smiled slightly. "This is true. Never mind then. By the way, the post came in while you were still asleep. A letter from Mr. Vincent Comte, and another one from Nora, and"—Remus had glanced up at Kierra, only to find her leaning back in her chair, pouring her coffee into a large potted plant that Elinor had brought them a few weeks ago—"Kierra! What are you doing?"

Kierra immediately stopped, and looked up at Remus rather guiltily. Jackie had stopped drinking her milk and was now staring at her aunt rather curiously. "Er"—

"I'm guessing you don't like the coffee?" Remus asked when Kierra's pause had extended to last several seconds.

Kierra grinned sheepishly. "I'm sorry…I appreciate the effort and all…and I love you to pieces, but…well, yeah. The coffee is absolutely disgusting…You should leave the coffee-making to me...it's the one thing I'm good at in the kitchen, you know..."

Remus simply rolled his eyes as he returned his attention to Jackie. He could feel Kierra's eyes on him. "Stop looking at me, Kierra." He said as he attempted to get Jackie drinking again, "I accept that I can't make coffee the way you like it. I'm not hurt."

He could see her grin out of the corner of his eye. "I love you."

"Read your mail."

Kierra obeyed and reached for the mail that sat next to Remus's plate. She immediately tore open the top letter—Vincent's letter—and read it excitedly to herself. Remus glanced her way every few seconds as he fed Jackie, waiting for her to say something—anything—that hinted at what Vincent's letter had been about…but she said nothing. She simply read the letter with a rather thoughtful look on her face, every now and then her brow furrowing with concern or possibly disapproval, and occasionally she would break into a small smile. What had Vincent said that could possibly be so amusing? Not that it was hard to imagine Vincent saying something funny…he was a relaxed, slightly comical man. Remus had met him the night before, along with his campaign managers Pierre Durand and Serge Bardot, for dinner at Pierre's house. He had to admit that they were all very nice men, as were their wives. Except for Vincent, of course, as he was a confirmed bachelor according to Serge. Yet Remus couldn't help but stay on guard. He had noticed that while Vincent was equally friendly and flirty with most women, he seemed to show a particular interest in Kierra…the way he looked at her so keenly whenever she spoke, the way he kissed her on the cheek when saying goodbye, the way it seemed much more prolonged than most friendly goodbyes…

"Oh, this is just great, Remus!" Kierra said excitedly, finally putting down Vincent's letter to look at him. "I just love how Vincent's so…open."

"Open?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah…open-minded. He takes what I say seriously…he listens. I bet there isn't a politician in Europe who'd sit and listen to a regular citizen's concerns. He's so genuine…I'll be extremely surprised if he's not the next governor after this election…"

"Me too." Replied Remus, though he said that with little conviction. He sat the remainder of breakfast in silence, listening to Kierra go on about the work Vincent was doing for his campaign—gaining popularity amongst outcast groups in the wizarding world like werewolves, goblins, and giants…listening to Kierra gush about how excited she was to be helping him out…

"I mean, he's just brilliant!" Kierra continued as she began to tear open her letter from Nora, "That Jules bloke doesn't stand a chance against him, really. He's told me about some of his campaigning techniques, and they're just brilliant. Of course, we refined them even more when I met up with him the other day…which I still can't get over…I mean, this guy's taking from me! Me! This'll sound silly, but…I don't know…it feels like such an honor to be asked for guidance from a guy like him…"

Remus nodded, making a conscious effort to put his teacup down without slamming it against the table. It wasn't that he was jealous of Vincent, because he wasn't. He had no reason to be jealous of Vincent. (Though in the back of his mind, Remus couldn't help but wish Kierra could transfer all the admiration she had for Vincent to him instead. He ignored that thought though and pushed it further into the back of his mind.) But it simply didn't make sense that Kierra would hero-worship a man like Vincent. Yes, he was a good man, a decent man…but he wasn't Merlin, or even Dumbledore. He wasn't the muggle equivalent of Superman…so why was she treating him like he was?

"That reminds me," Remus said slowly as he glanced at the newspaper that was sitting under Kierra's pile of mail, remembering something he had read earlier in the morning when the post had first come in. "I saw something in the paper about Vincent this morning"—

"Really?"

"Yeah…something about this witch coming forward, claiming to be pregnant with Vincent's son"—

Kierra laughed as she unfolded Nora's letter. "That's probably like the fourth one this year. Everyone's always trying to discredit him…tarnish his name…"

Remus rolled his eyes. "I think he's already sort of taken care to that…" he said quietly. Though apparently loud enough for Kierra to hear, as she looked at him rather annoyed. "Anyway…so…how's Nora?" Remus asked quickly when he saw her opening Nora's letter, and wanting desperately to shift the conversation away from Vincent.

Kierra shifted her gaze down to Nora's letter and smiled a moment later. "Dear Kierra, Jackie…_and Remus_," Kierra said, looking up to grin at him. "I know you wanted me to write my letters in French for practice, but I haven't spoken much English these past few days, and if I go any longer without saying 'cheers' I might just crack, so don't get mad! Beauxbatons isn't as bad as I thought it'd be. They're definitely not as snobby as I thought they'd be. My roommates are very nice, and luckily, they all have excellent English, so they've been helping me improve my French. Apparently, French people are very big on proper grammar, so they're always correcting me. It's a bit annoying, actually…but helpful nonetheless. They're nice girls, and I think we're becoming pretty good friends. One of them actually is from Aveyron, and lives only a few blocks from us—her name's Judy. Anyway, my classes are extremely difficult, I think mainly because of the language barrier. I usually have to see my professors a few times a week after class to clarify things with them…but I'm slowly starting to get the hang of it. Oh, before I forget, could you send me some money? I'm broke and I need to get a new French-English dictionary because the one I've got now is completely worn out. Seriously—the spine has gone all loose, and many of the pages have either gone missing or torn. Anyway, I miss all of you and hope you guys are well. Write me! Cheers- Nora."

Remus smiled slightly. "She seems happy."

Kierra smiled as well as she put down Nora's letter. "No serious complaints…I think you're right. Well, that's a relief, isn't it? I'm not sure how much longer I could've taken Nora as an angsty teenager."

"Yes, those few days were rather trying, weren't they?" Remus said as he pulled Jackie out of her highchair and took her to the sink to wash her hands.

"I wonder what caused the mood change…" Kierra said. "I mean…remember? She was all moody and whatnot for a while…I mean, I was seriously beginning to wonder if she was spending all those hours in her room slashing her wrists or something…but then all of a sudden she goes out shopping and comes back as her old, normal self. It was such a sudden change. Definitely welcomed," Kierra added with a relieved look on her face, "but still sudden."

Remus nodded in agreement. "I thought so too. Maybe spending some time out there—you know, away from us and out in France, interacting with French people—might've done the trick."

Kierra nodded thoughtfully as she followed Remus and Jackie out into the living room. "Yeah, I suppose that could be it…"

Kierra stood silently for a moment, watching Remus gently place Jackie on the ground so she could play freely. So simply going out on a shopping trip on her own had helped Nora suddenly adjust to life in France? Walking the streets of France, talking to a few French people had suddenly made her keener on living here? Kierra bit her lip as she watched Jackie slowly stand up and proceed to follow Remus to the sofa, where he had gone to sit in order to work on something for the school. She watched Jackie lean forward, against Remus's leg, stretching her arms out to him.

"Do you want to sit with me?" he asked with a smile. He put his papers down, and looked like he was going to reach for her, when Jackie squeaked, "Weemy!"

She pouted at him, still stretching her arms out to him, and now hopping up and down on her toes with impatience. Kierra's eyes widened slightly as she shared a look with Remus.

"Did she say"—

"I think so…" Kierra said, smiling slightly. "_Weemy..._ 'Remus' is too hard to say…but I think that's what she meant…"

She watched with amusement as Remus scooped up Jackie and placed her next to him. "Did you say 'Weemy'?" he asked her. "Can you say it again? Weemy…Weemy?"

But instead of repeating after him, Jackie crawled onto Remus's lap, bending the stacks of parchment he had resting there, and tearing one of them. Looking completely unperturbed, Remus pulled his papers from underneath Jackie and put them aside, opting to play with Jackie instead.

Before Kierra could stop herself, she felt her eyes watering up. She turned away quickly so Remus wouldn't see and immediately headed towards the bathroom.

"Kierra?" Remus called after her.

"Something's in my eye!" Kierra replied from the bathroom. "I think it's a lash or something…need to check it out in a mirror." she lied.

"Need any help?" he called.

"No, I'm fine!" she shouted back. She closed the door slightly and leaned against the wall, staring at her reflection over the sink. Her eyes were glassy with tears, but she did not bother wiping them. She was barely conscious of them. Jackie was _her_ niece. _Her_ blood. Yet she ran to _him_…held her arms out to him…wanted to be held by him…

* * *

A few hours later, Kierra and Remus were trudging down Diagon Alley, heading towards The Leaky Cauldron. Kierra, who was bouncing Jackie against her hip in attempts to keep her quiet, glanced around casually—it had been a long time since her last visit to Britain, and an even longer time since her last trip in Diagon Alley. And it looked exactly the same since she had last seen it. About eighteen years ago, before she had moved to the United States…that was the last time she had walked down these streets. It was just as quiet and dreary looking as she remembered it being. Of course, she knew of times when the streets were more cheery, but a war was going on when she had left it…and the same war was going on today. Kierra glanced down at her watch, which read 1:15.

"We're fifteen minutes late." Kierra mumbled, not bothering to look at Remus when she said it.

He sighed in response. "Walter will be half an hour late."

"You don't know that." Kierra replied.

"He always is."

"Still…"

"Might I remind you that we wouldn't have been late in the first place if you didn't read the post that came in for you just as we were leaving?" Remus interjected. "And take the time to reply to it too?"

Kierra stopped at the entrance of The Leaky Cauldron and glared at Remus. "We're late because you had to argue with me as I wrote my reply, Remus. Listening to your complaints sort of slowed down the process."

"I wasn't _complaining_," replied Remus, trying to keep his voice even so as to not startle Jackie. "I was simply telling you that since we live together, you ought to ask me when you want to move a meeting to our place."

Kierra rolled her eyes. "I didn't _want_ to. Pierre said they were meeting tomorrow. You'll still be here in London…someone needs to watch Jackie, so it only made sense to ask them to move it to our place so I could watch her. What's there to ask? There weren't any other options anyway…"

"Well, you could've declined to go to the meeting, due to parental obligations." Remus offered.

Kierra groaned. "You're just trying to be difficult because you don't like Vincent. The way I'm doing it, I get to participate in the meeting _and_ take care of Jackie. It's efficient. Case closed."

Remus opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off when he felt someone's hand grip his shoulder.

"Walter!" he said automatically, forcing a smile as he turned around to greet the man who had touched him. "You're early!"

Walter let out a hearty chuckle at this, patting Remus on the back good-naturedly, though Remus fell forward slightly from the force of it. "By my usual standards, I suppose I am."

He grinned at Remus, and then turned to Kierra, whose annoyed countenance had instantly melted away and was replaced by a smile. "And this must be Karen…" Walter said, extending his hand out to Kierra.

"Actually"—

"Yes, this is my fiancée, Karen…" Remus said quickly, cutting off Kierra and looked at her meaningfully.

Kierra cocked an eyebrow at Remus, but did not correct Walter. She smiled as she shook hands with him. "It's nice to finally meet you, Walter. Remus has told me all about you."

Walter chuckled again, elbowing Remus hard in the ribs, causing him to grunt in pain. "Did he?" he asked. "How's he made me out to be? Like some old scoundrel?"

Kierra laughed. "Absolutely not."

"And who's the kid?" Walter asked as they were being seated by Tom a few minutes later.

"Oh—this is Kierra's niece, Jacqueline." Remus said.

"But we like to call her Jackie." Kierra added.

"Cute kid." Walter said, nodding slightly at Remus, looking as though he was uncertain of what else to say. "Keep her away from old Greyback then, eh?" he added after a slight hesitation, grinning slightly at Remus.

"Sorry?" Kierra asked.

"Oh"—Walter chuckled and shook his head—"nothing, Karen. Karen—that's a nice name."

Kierra smiled uncertainly and nodded. "Thanks. A fairly common name too…" she added, glancing at Remus and raising her brows at him.

Walter shrugged and opened his menu. "Hope they've got somethin' cheap I can get here…"

Remus and Kierra followed suite. "Oh, Tom always has good prices…and he's lowered them a bit too…I'm guessing he doesn't get many customers in these days…" said Remus, biting down on his lip nervously, hoping no awkwardness would arise at talking about money. Kierra had thought that they would treat Walter out, but Remus, knowing that Walter was nearly as proud as him, would be offended if they had even tried.

Half an hour later, the small party was chatting rather amiably over their lunch. It had been going fairly smoothly, except for the minor tiff between Remus and Kierra when the latter decided to casually bring up her work with Vincent Comte. Walter had simply chuckled when the two of them had begun to bicker with each other as politely as possible, and offered to leave the restaurant so they could "duke it out" on their own, to which they immediately ended their argument and became considerably pleasanter to one another.

"Anyway," Walter said as he bit off a piece of his roll, "I reckon you've been right about Fenrir, Remus…he's turning out to be on seriously nasty piece of work."

Remus sat up straighter in his seat, as did Kierra. Jackie, who was leaning forward in her highchair and making a grab for a tomato slice on Remus's plate, was the only one unperturbed at hearing Fenrir's name.

"He's really out of control, isn't he?" Remus said quietly.

Walter nodded. "That he is. I mean, I've always sort of been on board with his philosophy, separating ourselves from the rest of them wizards around here—no offense, Karen"—he added quickly with a smile—"and you know, getting what we deserve…living like we ought to live…and I supported it…I was just so mad at the whole wizarding world for treating us the way they do, and I wanted revenge…I still do sometimes…but I mean, the crazy bastard's goin' after people who don't have anything to do with us. You know, there was this couple that got killed here a few months ago…some reckon it was him…did you hear about that?"

Remus nodded slowly, looking determinedly away from Kierra. He was almost certain that Walter was talking about Janine and Harvey.

"I ain't sure it was him though…" Walter said. "I mean, he usually don't kill, do he?"

"Well…" Remus started, but was immediately cut off by Walter.

"I mean…he likes to bite 'em and infect 'em…make our population grow…can't say I mind that too much either—I mean," he added, lowering his voice and smiling bashfully, "think it'd be kind of nice to have a she-wolf to shack up with, you know?"

"Erm.." Remus coughed uncomfortably.

"Oh!" Walter glanced at Kierra and laughed. "Well, maybe you wouldn't know…you already got yourself a pretty fully human witch…but I mean, it'd be nice to have a woman who can relate to me…anyway, about that couple…I hear they had some kids…one of them was at school, and they had a little baby apparently…but it survived, and wasn't even bitten. And you know that can't be Greyback. You know how he is…" he said, raising his eyebrows and looking knowingly at Remus.

Remus nodded slowly, reaching his hand under the table to hold Kierra's, knowing full well that she was tensing up from this conversation.

"…he just _loves_ those children…" Walter added, sniggering.

Remus had been about to tighten his grip on Kierra's hand, but too late. She stood up quickly, glaring at Walter as she towered over him.

"That's not funny!" she said loudly, drawing the attention of not only Tom, but the few other diners in the pub.

Remus glanced nervously at Kierra and then to Walter, somewhat unsure as to how the latter was going to react. To his surprise though, Walter merely chuckled. "You don't get it, Karen…" he said, shaking his head. "You're a normal old witch, of course you won't find it funny. If you were a werewolf"—

"Don't give me that crap!" Kierra snapped. "I don't care what you are, you have no right to laugh at death…laughing at savages like Fenrir"—

Walter stood up quickly, sending his bowl of soup teetering over the table, sending it to the ground with a loud smash, which in turn provoked a very startled Jackie to begin crying. "Oh-ho!" Walter started, casting a glance back at Remus, who was leaning forward to pacify Jackie, "so now we're savages? Did you hear that, Lupin? We're savages!"

"Quiet, you two!" Lupin said as he stood up, picking up Jackie. "We are in a public place! Calm yourselves, and we'll all go and settle this elsewhere!"

"I won't be quiet!" Walter protested, whirling around to face Remus. "You're gonna take that? You're letting your stupid girlfriend call us savages?"

"I wasn't calling _him_ a savage!" Kierra cut in. "Remus is a perfect gentleman! The rest of you lot could take a leaf out of his book!"

"Karen…" Remus started, knowing her statement could lead to nothing good. But now Walter had strode around the table, so he was now standing only a few inches from Remus.

"So you're a perfect gentleman now, Lupin?" Walter asked. "A regular, upstanding wizard, are yeh?"

"Well"—

"What's wrong, Remus? Living with wizards and witches made you all soft?"

"Walter, come off it." Remus replied with a tone of annoyance. "Look, just ignore Karen…she doesn't know what she's talking about. We're both werewolves…we're in this together"—

"What do you mean, 'ignore me'?" Kierra snapped. "I know exactly what I'm talking about and you do too!"

Remus opened his mouth to reply, but then shut it. Walter, taking notice of his hesitancy to talk back, chuckled. "We're not in this together, Lupin. I don't care if you transform like the rest of us—you're not one of us."

"Who are you to"—Remus began to protest, but Walter cut him off.

"Merlin's beard, Remus! You've got a baby in your arms!" Walter yelled.

"So what? You had kids too!" Remus replied.

"You can't even control your woman!" Walter said, ignoring Remus's comment. "She's walking around like she's queen of the world, with her nose stuck in the air, and you can't even discipline her!"

"Discipline me? I"—Kierra started, but was cut off when Remus grabbed her by the wrist and led her towards the door. "What are you doing!"

Remus ignored her. He stopped midway and headed back to the table to leave a few galleons on the table for Tom, and then glanced briefly at Walter before leading Jackie and Kierra out again. "My relationship with Karen is not your business, and that definitely includes the disciplining part."

Walter said nothing to this, and simply watched as Remus pulled his girlfriend out of the restaurant, hissing rather loudly in her ear, "I'll deal with you when we get home!" and at hearing this, Walter smiled slightly.

* * *

"You'll _deal_ with me when we get home?" Kierra shrieked when Remus pulled her into a dark alleyway outside The Leaky Cauldron. She writhed free from Remus's slackened grasp and glared at him as he tried to calm Jackie down.

Remus sighed. "I just said that so Walter would think I was going to discipline you or something…"

"Discipline me?"

"I had to show that I had some control over you! Needless to say, I probably failed miserably…" Remus replied. "Why did you have to go and pick a fight with Walter?"

Kierra's jaw dropped. "_Me?_ I wasn't trying to pick a fight with him! He was just being stupid, and I had to knock some sense into him, because apparently you're too big of a sissy to it yourself!"

"I know he was being stupid. I know he said some pretty horrible, stupid things. But couldn't you just let some of it slide? To avoid conflict? He says these things all the time, and while it annoys and offends me, I usually let it go, because I know he doesn't always mean it to sound as bad as we take it." said Remus.

"So you just let him say what he wants? You don't correct him of his stupid notions? What the hell is the whole point of spending time with him?" Kierra asked. "You're not making any progress with him! I mean, he doesn't seem like he'll be joining our side any time soon!"

"It's called progression, Kierra." Remus replied. "You can't change a man overnight. You have to work with people at a reasonable pace. And trying to force him to change his life around 180 degrees at once is foolish."

Kierra rolled her eyes. "Please. You're starting to sound like Vincent now. If there's anything wrong with that guy, it's the pace he wants to move with his campaign. I've told him he's got to kick up the pace, and I'm telling you the same thing."

"So glad to finally have something in common with Vincent…" Remus muttered under his breath as he tried to bounce Jackie against his hip to quiet her the way he had always seen mothers do, but to little avail; his hips were much narrower than most mothers'.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" snapped Kierra, who had apparently heard him muttering.

"Simply that it's nice to be equated with Vincent on some level, even if it is one of his flaws…" Remus replied, suddenly not in the mood to 'let things slide'…

Kierra sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "What the hell is the matter with you? Every time I mention Vincent, you always get annoyed. I know you're not terribly fond of him, which I don't get why…but honestly, can't you just drop it, and maybe learn to like him?"

"Perhaps if you try to learn to like Walter…" replied Remus.

"That's hardly the same thing." Kierra said. "_You_ don't even like Walter."

"I don't dislike him…" Remus said.

Kierra scoffed. "But you don't like him either? You always say the same thing about Snape. Whatever. And I bet you want to say the same thing about Vincent. You neither like him nor dislike him…but please. I know you better. I know that despite whatever you claim, you've never liked Snape and never will. And you've never liked Vincent, and I doubt you ever will. I don't understand why…"

"The same reason why his political opponents don't like him, I imagine…"

Kierra cocked an eyebrow at him. "You don't like werewolves?"

He rolled his eyes in response. "I think he's a bit dodgy. He's been in a few scandals"—

"All politicians get tied into scandals! Anyway, he's always gotten off though!" Kierra protested. "Always proved innocent."

"He gets off on technicalities…" Remus replied. "That's not the same as being innocent."

"So you don't like him because he's got the reputation to be a bit promiscuous?"

"Exactly." Remus replied.

"That's bullocks!" Kierra cut in. "So what if he's got the rep! Doesn't mean he is! And even if he were, does that make him a bad man? He's still nice! And He's rich…uses his wealth in the most altruistic ways…he's a great guy!"

"So what sort of 'great guy' would still be a bachelor at 45?" asked Remus. "Has he not found any woman good enough for him? Or his monogamy just not his thing?"

Kierra's mouth opened, letting out an indignant gasp. "You're just jealous of Vincent!"

"I am not"—

"Please! And you're mad at me that I spend all this time with him! That I'm busy, that I'm busier than _you_. You're mad that I have more responsibilities than you, and a lot of them are tied in with Vincent…so you hate him for that."

"Kierra, please"—

"Don't _please _me! You know it." Kierra said. "Once again, you're just all insecure about being a big macho man…and annoyed that I'm making more than you and doing more than you. It doesn't bother me, so I don't get why it should bother you. And I certainly don't get why you have to hate Vincent for the situation you're in!"

Remus at first did not say anything. The two stood there quietly, letting all the words soak through. Kierra waited for Remus to say something—she wanted him to say something. Anything. Or do something. She could even stand to have him hit her across the face…but she couldn't take the silence…

"I'm going back home." Kierra finally said. She reached forward and took Jackie (who began to cry) from Remus.

"You can leave her with me…" Remus said. "I know you're busy…"

"No." Kierra said, ignoring Jackie's cries of protest at being taken away from Remus. "She's _my_ niece. I can take care of her."

She turned around to leave, but was suddenly overcome by an urge to turn back around and apologize. But she just couldn't bring herself to. She knew everything she said was true, and she knew Remus needed to hear it. So she kept walking…

"When Walter attacked you, calling you arrogant, I was so angry I wanted to hit him, thinking he had no right to say such things to you!" Remus called after her. She did not stop walking. "But I'm starting to think Walter was right…"

After a few moments, Kierra brought herself to turn around, but she was too late; Remus had already disapparated out of the alleyway.

* * *

It was almost nine o'clock when Remus wandered into a pub that he knew Walter tended to go to. Still fuming at Kierra's earlier remarks, Remus plopped onto a stool at the bar and ordered a firewhiskey, hoping he would run into Walter. He wanted to apologize for Kierra's behavior. He wanted to tell him that Karen's name was actually Kierra. He wanted to tell him Kierra felt particularly strongly about what he had said because the couple that had been killed was her sister-in-law and brother…and that the baby that had been left untouched was Jackie. He looked at his watch, and knew it was rather early for Walter to be at the pub…but Remus didn't know where else to go. He had tried visiting Dominique, but she was not home. He knew dozens of other people living in London, but he didn't feel like sulking in front of any of them. Only Dominique, he felt, could stand to see him sulk and hear him complain about Kierra without feeling uncomfortable. Sometimes he wished he was a little more open, a little more emotional in front of people…it would make sulking in front of them so much easier. But people were now so used to him remaining emotionally steady in the direst of situations, that he was sure breaking from that image would make his any of his friends uncomfortable—any of them except Dominique, or Kierra…but Kierra was the problem, so it only left Dominique.

He thought briefly of Sirius, wishing for a moment that he had his friend at his side. Sure, he would have to endure several minutes of Sirius's taunting for having "girl problems", but he would have gladly endured hours of it if it meant having his friend back…

Remus glanced around the dingy pub—he recognized several of the men there as regulars, though he didn't know any of their names. He took another sip of his drink, wondering where Dominique was, wondering if she had just gone out for a quick errand and if he should go back to her place to see if she was home yet…

"Aw c'mon! Jus' one mo'!"

Remus glanced up. The voice sounded familiar, though his speech sounded rather slurred. A young black man was sitting a few stools away from him, coaxing the bartender to give him another drink.

"You already had five of those, and it's only nine o'clock, mate!" the bartender replied, clearing the clutter of firewhiskey bottles that surrounded the man. "Go home!"

The black man chuckled, and as he threw his head back in his laughter, the gold hoop earring he wore in his right ear glimmered. Remus finally saw the man's face. It was Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"I don' want to though…I want to live here"—he said, pounding his fists on the bar—"and die here, here at this bar! Right on this stool! Now, gimme another firewhiskey, damnit!"

"Go home. We're closed!" the bartender said, annoyed.

Kingsley chuckled. "But you said it's only nine o'clock! You don't close for hours, Nate!"

The bartender named Nate rolled his eyes. "For a depressed drunkard, you've certainly got your wits about you…"

Kingsley chuckled again as he caught the firewhiskey that Nate slid to him. "I'm an auror, I've got to have those wits…"

"Auror, eh? That's a right prestigious job you got there…"

"Damn straight." Kingsley replied as he popped open his drink. "Great job, great job." He took a sip of his drink and made a face. "Apparently not great enough for _her_ though. I could be the minister of magic o' somefin, and she still probably wouldn't want me…"

"Oy, I'm a bit sick of hearing you sulk, Shacklebolt, so don't mind if I slip away for a little bit? Got some other customers I need to serve…" The bartender said, rolling his eyes as he moved away from Kingsley and directed his attention to another customer who had just walked into the bar.

As Kingsley fell into silence and began to focus on his drink, Remus got up to join him. He took a seat at the stool next to Kingsley, who looked up at his new company.

"Remus!" he said, looking surprised. "What're you doin' here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Remus replied, taking a sip of his drink. "Are you here on guard duty or something?"

Kingsley chuckled. But it wasn't as warm and rumbling as his normal laughter. It sounded rather hollow this time, which possibly could have been induced by his current, drunken state. "No, I'm not…I was off today, actually…"

"Oh"—

"Yeah…" Kingsley said with a heavy sigh. He drained the last of his firewhiskey, and set the bottle down with a loud clank, startling Remus. He groaned as he glanced around the bar, probably looking for Nate for a refill.

"Everything alright?" Remus asked tentatively.

Kingsley shrugged. "I need another drink."

"Maybe when Nate gets back." Remus replied. "But in the meantime…er…what's wrong?"

Kingsley shrugged. "I don't know. I wish I knew. But I just don't get her…she's so moody…"

"Er…"

"I don't know…I thought…maybe she seemed into me, now I don't know…God, I want her…I miss her…"

"Er—who?" Remus asked, though the first person who came to his mind was Tonks.

"Dominique..."

"Dominique?" Remus repeated, feeling his eyes widen.

"Dominique." repeated Kingsley.

But…Dominique had never said anything. Kingsley had never said anything… "Our Dominique? As in Dominique Fiore?" Remus asked.

Kingsley nodded, staring sadly at his empty firewhiskey bottle. "I wish we never kissed."


	9. Chapter Nine: Interlude

_A/N: so I know it's been a crazy long time. (blushes guiltily) If you've read my blog, you'll know that I wanted to call it quits with this story…or at least until I could find a way to dig myself out of this literary hole. I had a sudden urge a couple of days ago to work on this story, so I did…and this is what I produced. It's extremely and ridiculously short and I'm wondering if I was better off leaving the story as it was than to give this feeble update…but I thought I'd give you something anyway, because I feel like I've lost my drive to finish this story. I think it's because at this point I only have a very loose outline of what I want to happen next. sigh ok. I CANNOT give up. What I'll do is make a thorough plot outline before going any further…and hopefully, HOPEFULLY that will bring back that drive I so desperately need to get this story done. This is one of my smaller, less-read, less-popular, less-everything stories, I think…but Dominique and Kierra were the first characters I had ever written. I want to finish their stories. grins triumphantly, blushing from the cheesiness of this declaration_

_So anyway, that's why this chapter is called interlude. Ok, I don't know why. But it felt appropriate. More, meatier chapters will be on their way once I…er...organize. _

_Anyway,.…as far as the story goes, let me refresh thy memories. (if you remember everything that happened in the last few chapters, just skip past the bold...)_

"**_You want to know why else Nora and I aren't making any progress? Possibly because one of the only role models she has left doesn't even show respect towards me! So why should she respect me then? Why would she make an effort to be civil with me if you aren't going to? Did it ever occur to you that every time you snap at me and call me names, or just act rudely to me in Nora's presence, she might just pick up on it? You didn't let me have any say on Nora's education, and you brushed me away in front of her when I did try to get involved… I mean, no wonder she doesn't care to make an effort with me...she doesn't respect me because you don't even respect me!"(Remus)_**

**_

* * *

_**

_**...he no longer seemed passionate or aroused, yet his mouth against her felt like something familiar. It had some feeling of need to it, but no longer sexually driven...yet it sent shivers down her spine...**_

_**Kierra let out a small cry as she pushed Remus away from herself and immediately sat up in bed. She looked wildly around the room, looking at anything but Remus.**_

_**"Kierra, what"--**_

_**Remus was also sitting up now, and had leaned forward to touch her hand, but Kierra immediately retracted her hand out of his reach.**_

_**"I'm sorry..." she breathed, at last looking him in the eyes. "I'm sorry..."**_

_**"For what? What's wrong?" asked Remus, though his voice had little conviction in it, and more of a tone of dread, as though he had an idea of what was coming.**_

_**"Greyback." Kierra said.**_

_**

* * *

**_

_**"So..." Kingsley echoed her. He was staring at her, with his dark, almost black eyes. She was suddenly conscious of how close they were sitting next to each other, and thought to move; she didn't, however, and stayed glued to her seat. Tonks's face was swimming in her head, smiling knowingly at her, saying Kingsley's name with an annoying, gushing emphasis as she tended to do. Suddenly though, her face vanished from Dominique's thoughts when both she and Kingsley leaned forward and kissed.**_

_**

* * *

**_

**_It took a moment for his words to wash over himself. It was true. Kierra seemed oblivious to the fact that she was carrying him around on her shoulders…or perhaps she was conscious of it, and was simply being patient. In either case, Remus could not help but feel a bit disgruntled. It was his job to carry her. It was his responsibility to take care of Nora and Jackie. He should be spending as much time, if not more time at Aveyron Academy than Kierra. Of course in all honesty, he knew circumstances were not in their control and it was no one's fault that their relationship was the way it was. Yet that didn't stop him from feeling a bit irritated with his inability to contribute more to Kierra, Jackie or Nora's well-being…_**

**_"Sounds like some woman…" Walter said rather hoarsely, as another shot glass full of rum came his way gliding across the counter. "So let me know when you can bring her around, eh?"_**

**_

* * *

_**

_**So why would Nora suddenly be excited about being here? Only days ago she was presiding broodingly in her room, barely speaking to anyone, particularly Remus, and extremely uncooperative in her French lessons. Almost overnight though, she had grown considerably fonder of the French language, and had begun to lap up French at exponential rates. She had also grown considerably warmer towards Remus, and had even taken to calling him by his first name without any hint of awkwardness when he left for England with Jackie yesterday.**_

_**

* * *

"Lovely name," Vincent replied. "My name is Vincent Comte, and I'm actually running for position of"—**_

_**"…governor in the French ministry of magic, I know…" Kierra said, smiling sheepishly.**_

_**

* * *

It suddenly occurred to him that he did not really know how Jackie acted. She cried when she was hungry or needed changing, or when she hurt herself, and she giggled when she saw something amusing…she spent a good amount of time sleeping or in Kierra's company while he was away…or when Kierra was busy at work she was being babysat by Kierra's friend Elinor. This sudden realization gave Remus an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach. He and Kierra were too busy for Jackie. They weren't spending enough time with her, and were dismissing it because she was just a baby and didn't really need anything except feeding and changing. Remus felt like cringing at his idiocy. Of course they hadn't expected to become parents overnight…yet it happened and they were not putting the required effort into it. Jackie needed attention, and they were giving her the minimum amount…**_

_**Everyone would always tell him that he would be a great family man. His parents, his friends…he distinctly recalled James in his pre-Lily days, jokingly predicting that Remus would be the first to get married of the marauders…that his life would be littered with tacky, woolly sweater vests and many wolfish children who would adore their "moony, loony daddy." James, of course, had been abysmal at divination—real or mock—and had obviously been incorrect…**_

_**

* * *

**_  
**_Remus at first did not say anything. The two stood there quietly, letting all the words soak through. Kierra waited for Remus to say something—she wanted him to say something. Anything. Or do something. She could even stand to have him hit her across the face…but she couldn't take the silence…_**

**_"I'm going back home." Kierra finally said. She reached forward and took Jackie (who began to cry) from Remus._**

**_"You can leave her with me…" Remus said. "I know you're busy…"_**

**_"No." Kierra said, ignoring Jackie's cries of protest at being taken away from Remus. "She's my niece. I can take care of her."_**

**_She turned around to leave, but was suddenly overcome by an urge to turn back around and apologize. But she just couldn't bring herself to. She knew everything she said was true, and she knew Remus needed to hear it. So she kept walking…_**

**_"When Walter attacked you, calling you arrogant, I was so angry I wanted to hit him, thinking he had no right to say such things to you!" Remus called after her. She did not stop walking. "But I'm starting to think Walter was right…"_**

**_After a few moments, Kierra brought herself to turn around, but she was too late; Remus had already disapparated out of the alleyway._**

**_

* * *

_**  
_**Kingsley shrugged. "I don't know. I wish I knew. But I just don't get her…she's so moody…"**_

_**"Er…"**_

_**"I don't know…I thought…maybe she seemed into me, now I don't know…God, I want her…I miss her…"**_

_**"Er—who?" Remus asked, though the first person who came to his mind was Tonks. **_

_**"Dominique..."**_

_**"Dominique?" Remus repeated, feeling his eyes widen.**_

_**"Dominique." repeated Kingsley.**_

_**But…Dominique had never said anything. Kingsley had never said anything… "Our Dominique? As in Dominique Fiore?" Remus asked.**_

_**Kingsley nodded, staring sadly at his empty firewhiskey bottle. "I wish we never kissed."**_

_

* * *

_

_Chapter Nine: Interlude_

_

* * *

_

_  
Nancy Passant_, the return address read. Remus turned the letter over and found the waxy seal of Vincent Comte's party guarding the flap of the envelope. With a small sigh, he dropped the letter onto Kierra's stack of mail. That was the fifth letter from someone in Vincent's party in this morning's mail haul.

Remus finished going through the mail, and in the end was disappointed at only having one letter—a reminder from their landlord to pay their rent. Not that he had been expecting any written correspondence from anyone. He had no important business to attend to, except things pertaining to the college or to the Order, and much of that communication was done in person. No, he couldn't really expect mail from anyone. Not even Dominique. She was terrible at writing to people, especially at moments when a letter seemed necessary.

He thought briefly about the night he had run into Kingsley. They had actually kissed. Kingsley and Dominique had kissed. Remus was not quite sure how he felt about it. Aside from the fact that Dominique was older than Kingsley, she was – in a sense – recently widowed. Remus was fairly certain that this might have been the reason Dominique had kept silent on the matter, and why Kingsley had only accidentally let it slip in his drunken state. In any case, Remus now knew about their situation, and probably wasn't supposed to know, and the idea of it made him a bit uncomfortable.

Dropping the mail on the coffee table so Kierra wouldn't miss it, Remus stood up and headed to their bedroom. She would be home at noon for lunch, and would stay at home for the remainder of the day to take care of Jackie while Remus checked in at the university and met with a few of his students to advise them on their research assignments. It was how it was now…they worked in shifts in order to ensure that there was always someone home for Jackie.

His mind wandered back and forth between Kierra and Dominique. Kierra probably didn't know about Dominique and Kingsley's situation. He had thought several times about telling her—after all, she was his wife-to-be. But he wasn't really at liberty to tell her. Or was he? He wasn't sure. Besides that though, he wasn't even sure if he _wanted_ to tell her.

Remus knew in the back of his mind that it was a trivial matter, to purposely keep Kierra in the dark about Kingsley and Dominique. But the adolescent, self-indulgent side of him that rarely ever surfaced was now reminding him of his recent annoyance with Kierra and was using it as an excuse to retaliate for any grievances she had been causing him, which currently were plenty in number. The recent fight they had gotten into while having lunch in London, and insulting Walter in the process certainly merited itself as grounds for agitation…

But she was his fiancée. True, the tension between them was growing, and Remus felt himself growing more and more intolerant of the newly-found political side of Kierra and her involvement with Vincent Comte. But at the end of the day she was still Kierra. She was still the lovely and endearing woman he had fallen for—twice.

"_Weemus!"_

Remus pulled himself up in bed to find Jackie making her way to the bedroom. She was frowning, holding a doll's head in one hand and its body in the other.

He smiled at her as he sat up. "Did you break your doll?"

She nodded in response.

"Would you like me to fix it?" he asked.

Jackie nodded again, holding the broken doll parts out to him. Remus scooped her up in his arms and placed her next to him on the bed. He took the doll and its head from her, and after examining it for a moment, he squeezed the doll's head back onto its neck, reattaching it to its body.

"Tank you!" Jackie squealed as she snatched her doll back from Remus and hopped off the bed. And dragging the doll by its long red hair, she led it out of the room.

Remus grinned as he watched her leave. Kierra had taught her how to say thank you.

* * *

Kierra stared blankly at the essay she was grading. She had lost her train of thought for the third time since starting on this particular essay. Tempted to mark off the paper with a 'Poor' for not being able to hold her attention long enough, Kierra sighed and shoved the stack of papers aside, deciding to save her grading for when she was feeling less moody. 

She stared at the photos on her desk. The one right in front of her was of Nora on her twelfth birthday. Kierra hadn't been able to visit that time, and so she had sent her a set of dress robes by owl post. Janine had taken a photo of Nora wearing them and sent it to Kierra, along with a thank you note from her niece.

Kierra's mind flickered to Janine, and then to Harvey, but almost immediately went back to Nora. She wouldn't allow herself to think of her brother and his wife. She couldn't allow herself that indulgence.

She wondered how Nora was doing at Beauxbatons, not having heard from her in a while now. It was a good sign, she knew, which meant Nora was probably doing well and adjusting to her new environment…but she missed her. She missed Nora's presence. True, it had only been for a few days that Nora had lived with her and Remus, and it had been under tragic circumstances that had caused Nora to shut Kierra and Remus out of her life in that period, but she had grown accustomed to Nora's presence. And, Kierra thought sadly to herself, she felt she wanted Nora's presence at home more than ever now because she didn't know how to handle Remus anymore. She wanted a buffer to distract him.

Kierra was still upset with him. He had always been so understanding and supportive towards her, as teenagers and as adults, and now…_now_, he was just full of disapproval…of her work, of Vincent, of the way she was raising Nora and Jackie. Of course, Remus rarely came out and criticized anything she did, but she knew he frowned on almost anything she did. There was that gnawing feeling that reminded her of how much more wiser Remus was than her, and how she always respected and loved that about him…but she ignored that feeling because it just wasn't fair. Yes, he was rightfully concerned about her, but he just didn't understand. He never would. Remus had grown up going to a school where he was one of the smartest, popular students there (granted, his friends were probably the reason he was popular, but that was neither here nor there). Everyone liked him, he was a favorite amongst professors, and he was a model student. Kierra on the other hand went to a school where in her first year people had actually wondered if she was a squib for her lack of magical abilities. She had always been labeled as ditzy, made enemies—often by accident—and received cringes from professors many times at her mere presence…she was never good at anything…of course, until she became a professor. But even that…

Kierra sighed as she reclined in her seat. It was a nice job, her job. But it wasn't the most satisfying job. Not for her. For others it might be—she could certainly see how teaching was satisfying for Remus – but it wasn't for her. She never considered herself a great professor. Hell, she didn't even like teaching that much…but she did it because she performed well enough at it. She took an interview for the job and got it. It was as simple as that.

But politics, she loved.

It energized her, and she loved it. She loved strategizing and planning, and thinking about current affairs and addressing those problems that concerned their society. She wanted to make a change. She wanted Remus to be able to apply for a job and not get turned down simply because he had lycanthropy. She wanted him to be treated like the human being he was. She wanted people to address him as _Sir_ or _Mr. Lupin_, not as _Werewolf_. Politics was the way to make that change and it annoyed Kierra that Remus couldn't see that, that _this_ was the way to change, that _he_ was her driving force. It annoyed her further that he couldn't see how much she loved it, how much she loved herself when she got involved with politics.

_Arrogant_. He had called her arrogant the other day, after having lunch with his friend Walter. Knowing Remus, he probably meant to hurt her, but in the back of his mind figured he hadn't succeeded because he was just never very good at insulting people. He had, however, succeeded magnificently. That single word pressed on Kierra over and over, rolling around in her mind as she pulled out her papers in another attempt to grade them. Perhaps he hadn't meant it, and was just upset at the time. Later on at home, they had muttered apologies to each other. She hadn't been sincere though, and she sensed that he hadn't been either. And he never specifically mentioned being sorry about calling her arrogant. Perhaps he was just upset, Kierra reasoned again. But her excuses were looking flimsy in her mind. Remus never blew up. And though he complained little, he never said things he didn't mean. Kierra again pushed her papers aside, wondering if her new-found success in the political sphere had become a pool of self-importance for her to wade in…

Twenty minutes later, Kierra was walking briskly down the corridor.

_Just look straight ahead…don't let your eyes wander and you won't see anyone you know_, Kierra told herself as she hurried up down the stairs. She had finished her work sooner than she had thought, and was feeling quite optimistic about getting home early. As long as she didn't run into any of professors or students she knew…

"Professor!"

_Damn. _

Kierra stopped and turned around. Jean-Benoit, a student of hers, was rushing down the hallway to meet her. She smiled at him. While she (and Remus, who also knew Jean-Benoit) would never admit it, they both considered him one of their favorite students. He was a bit obnoxious and immature for an overage wizard, but at the same time he was very witty and sharp, reminding her, as Remus pointed out once, slightly of James Potter in his youth.

"'Ello Professor!" he said cheerily as he joined Kierra as they headed towards the doors that led outside. "Are you leaving?"

"I am, actually." Kierra replied. "You?"

Jean-Benoit shook his head and grinned. "No, I actually 'ave a meeting vit your _boyfriend_ later on today."

Kierra attempted to glare at him, but merely rolled her eyes instead, smiling slightly. "Good for you."

"I passed by 'is office a while ago but 'he wasn't een. Vil 'e be coming later? We 'ave en appointment in a few hours…" Jean-Benoit said.

"Yes, he'll be in." Kierra replied, "That's why I'm going home now, actually, to relieve him from his babysitting duties so he can come here."

Jean-Benoit nodded and then fell into a rant about studies and how it was difficult to get in touch with Professor Lupin, and how he was having a hard time with his research and needed his help. Kierra only half-heard his empty whines, because as they turned a corner, she spotted the headmaster's secretary, Sheila, at a distance.

"Er…that's great, Jean-Benoit," Kierra said abruptly as she glanced around frantically for a quick exit, almost immediately spotting the ladies' restroom on her right. "But I kind of need to go. I'll see you in class, alright?"

Without so much as a goodbye, Kierra ducked into the restroom, which was thankfully empty. To pass a few moments, Kierra went over to the sink and washed her hands, hoping that Sheila didn't have to use the restroom and make a stop in here. She was a complete coward, she knew, but that didn't stop Kierra from hiding from the secretary whenever she saw her. Interacting with her was just too embarrassing, what with their history. Many months ago, shortly after Kierra had broken off her engagement with her ex-fiancé and had moved in with Remus, she had attempted to set him up with Sheila, who had fancied Remus at the time. They dated for a while, by which time Kierra had begun to redevelop feelings for Remus. In a desperate attempt to break the two up, Kierra had told Sheila that Remus was gay. She eventually fessed up and told Sheila the truth, which was the reason for their fall out. Kierra was now afraid of being within ten feet of Sheila. She was a tiny woman, but very reminiscent of the snippy old Hogwarts librarian, Madam Pince, thus, a complete fright.

After a few moments, Kierra peered outside the restroom and found that the corridor was empty. Tiptoeing out, she skulked down the hallway and upon reaching the doors that led outside, sighed with relief.

Kierra trudged along the deeply worn path outside. Due to the war in neighboring Britain, all of France's wizarding schools had taken the extra precaution of disabling apparation on the campus grounds, thereby forcing Kierra to walk a fair distance before being able to apparate back to her flat. After a few minutes she reached a clearing in the wooded area surrounding the school where she usually made her disapparations. Kierra sighed and began to focus on the image of her flat, but was immediately lost her concentration at the sound of rustling amongst the trees.

Kierra drew breath and quickly pulled out her wand. She was a little ways from the trees, so she slowly took a few steps closer in order to make out the shapes moving amongst the trees. Still holding tight to her wand, Kierra was now at the edge of the woods, hiding herself behind a large oak tree. She peered around it, now certain that the movement was being caused by humans, as she was sure she had heard light laughter. It sounded familiar, and after a few moments of straining her eyes to see the shape in the distance, realized it was Jean-Benoit.

Her grip on her wand relaxed a little. She wasn't sure what Jean-Benoit was up to—probably not anything good—but probably not anything too dangerous either. After a few moments, she heard another person's voice—a girl's voice. Or, at least she thought it was a girl's voice. It was so faint and in the distance, it was hard to tell. Kierra carefully took a few more steps forward to get a better look, and was soon able to confirm that the second voice she heard was indeed a girl's voice; she had seen the back of the girl's hair. It was long and light blonde, very much like—

"Nora!" Kierra breathed.

The girl shifted slightly in her posture, revealing her face to Kierra. It was Nora—her fifteen year old niece, Nora. Suddenly overcome by fury at Jean-Benoit, her favorite silly-but-loveable student, Kierra raised her wand, ready to throw him across the woods, when she saw Nora excitedly grab a hold of his arm. Before Kierra could even vocalize the spell she was going to use, they had disapparated together.

* * *


	10. Chapter Ten: Sirius's Song

A/N:: Crazy long time, I know...I'd explain myself but I imagine you just want me to shut up so you can get on with the chapter. :P Recap is below in bold.

* * *

_**We the undersigned agree to the terms set by the joint last will and testament of Harvey Lane Nakofsky and Janine Ellen Nakofsky. We hereby accept and assume guardianship over all offspring produced by Harvey Lane Nakofsky and Janine Ellen Nakofsky in the event of their deaths. We submit to the conditions of the will in question that all inheritance bestowed upon us with the intention of providing for the offsprings of Harvey Lane Nakofsky and Janine Ellen Nakofsky. We also understand that the responsibility of guardianship extends until the birthdays that mark the offsprings' entrance into overage wizardry and/or witchcraft.**_

_**Furthermore, all sensible offspring (Nora Nakofsky) acknowledge and accept the halfbreed condition of one member of the guardianship, Remus John Lupin. All other offspring (Jacqueline Nakofsky) who are not of age to comprehend the above circumstances will be informed when the appropriate age is reached. The appropriate age agreed upon by the undersigned is seven years old.**_

_**We agree to the above terms and conditions and have also read and agreed upon with the terms, conditions and policies set by the Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom before witnesses of the ministry and high wizengamot court.**_

_**signed:**_

_**Remus John Lupin 24.10.96**_

_**Kierra Jane Nakofsky 24.10.96**_

* * *

**Kierra let out a small cry as she pushed Remus away from herself and immediately sat up in bed. She looked wildly around the room, looking at anything but Remus.**

**"Kierra, what"--**

**Remus was also sitting up now, and had leaned forward to touch her hand, but Kierra immediately retracted her hand out of his reach.**

**"I'm sorry..." she breathed, at last looking him in the eyes. "I'm sorry..."**

**"For what? What's wrong?" asked Remus, though his voice had little conviction in it, and more of a tone of dread, as though he had an idea of what was coming.**

**"Greyback." Kierra said.**

**Remus gaped at her. Not what he had been expecting at all...**

**"You...what you did. Greyback did it to me...you reminded me of him..." she said quietly. **

* * *

**"So..." Dominique started when they had both finished. She and Kingsley looked on to each other; Dominique wondered what time it was, remembering that she had to get to work early in the morning to tune the class piano.**

**"So..." Kingsley echoed her. He was staring at her, with his dark, almost black eyes. She was suddenly conscious of how close they were sitting next to each other, and thought to move; she didn't, however, and stayed glued to her seat. Tonks's face was swimming in her head, smiling knowingly at her, saying Kingsley's name with an annoying, gushing emphasis as she tended to do. Suddenly though, her face vanished from Dominique's thoughts when both she and Kingsley leaned forward and kissed.**

* * *

"**My name is Vincent Comte, and I'm actually running for position of"—**

"…**governor in the French ministry of magic, I know…" Kierra said, smiling sheepishly.**

**The man named Pierre chuckled and nudged the third man in the arm. "Bet you a galleon she won't know who we are though…"**

**Vincent smiled and turned to Kierra. "This is Pierre Durand and Serge Bardot…they are my campaign managers and closest advisors."**

**Kierra shook hands with each of them. "Pleased to meet you."**

* * *

**Kierra smiled as well as she put down Nora's letter. "No serious complaints…I think you're right. Well, that's a relief, isn't it? I'm not sure how much longer I could've taken Nora as an angsty teenager."**

"**Yes, those few days were rather trying, weren't they?" Remus said as he pulled Jackie out of her highchair and took her to the sink to wash her hands.**

"**I wonder what caused the mood change…" Kierra said. "I mean…remember? She was all moody and whatnot for a while…I mean, I was seriously beginning to wonder if she was spending all those hours in her room slashing her wrists or something…but then all of a sudden she goes out shopping and comes back as her old, normal self. It was such a sudden change. Definitely welcomed," Kierra added with a relieved look on her face, "but still sudden."**

**Remus nodded in agreement. "I thought so too. Maybe spending some time out there—you know, away from us and out in France, interacting with French people—might've done the trick."**

* * *

"**I'm going back home." Kierra finally said. She reached forward and took Jackie (who began to cry) from Remus.**

"**You can leave her with me…" Remus said. "I know you're busy…"**

"**No." Kierra said, ignoring Jackie's cries of protest at being taken away from Remus. "She's my niece. I can take care of her."**

**She turned around to leave, but was suddenly overcome by an urge to turn back around and apologize. But she just couldn't bring herself to. She knew everything she said was true, and she knew Remus needed to hear it. So she kept walking…**

"**When Walter attacked you, calling you arrogant, I was so angry I wanted to hit him, thinking he had no right to say such things to you!" Remus called after her. She did not stop walking. "But I'm starting to think Walter was right…"**

* * *

"**Nora!" Kierra breathed.**

**The girl shifted slightly in her posture, revealing her face to Kierra. It was Nora—her fifteen year old niece, Nora. Suddenly overcome by fury at Jean-Benoit, her favorite silly-but-loveable student, Kierra raised her wand, ready to throw him across the woods, when she saw Nora excitedly grab a hold of his arm. Before Kierra could even vocalize the spell she was going to use, they had disapparated together.**

* * *

* * *

Chapter Ten: Sirius's Song

Remus shook his head with disapproval as Jackie chucked a block at him.

"No." he said sternly, or at least in a voice he had hoped sounded stern. Kierra had always criticized him for being too lax with children, so he was now trying to exert authority on his baby daughter. Only he was finding it difficult—not only because the little girl in front of him was ridiculously cute—but also because every now and then there were moments where Remus still had a hard time grasping the idea of Jackie being his daughter. Now was one of them.

Remus placed the block atop the castle they had built together on the living room floor, reminding Jackie that blocks were for building, not for throwing. Jackie in turn, giggled, and swung her arm into the castle, demolishing it.

Gasping in mock surprise, to which Jackie laughed at with satisfaction, Remus scooped Jackie in his arms and stood up. "Alright, come on trouble maker. Let's get you ready for lunch. Kierra will be home—"

With a popping sound, Kierra had apparated into the apartment.

"Soon." Remus finished, forcing a smile at Kierra. He was still quite annoyed with her over recent incidents. "You're back early."

"I saw Nora." She said, dropping her briefcase on the ground, not bothering to give Jackie a kiss as she routinely did when she got home.

Remus had fit Jackie into her high chair at the kitchen table, but had looked up at Kierra's random statement. "What? What are you talking about?"

"I was leaving work, and I was walking near the woods…and I saw him with her!"

"Who?" Remus asked. "You saw Nora with whom?"

"Jean-Benoit!" Kierra exclaimed. "They were there in the woods together! And she held onto him and did a side apparition…and they just disappeared before I could even react!"

Remus frowned at Kierra. "Are you sure you saw all of this? Nora's all the way in Beauxbatons, she's in school—"

"_Yes_, I'm sure!" Kierra burst. "You think I'm imagining it? I _saw_ them, Remus! They were there together, and I don't get it! I had seen Jean-Benoit not ten minutes before that…and she wasn't with him then! Was he hiding her somewhere? Was she hiding by her own free will or was he making her hide? And _why_ would she hide? And what the hell was she doing there with him in the first place?"

"Kierra, I don't know—"

"And where the hell did they go?"

"Well, maybe—"

"She's supposed to be at school! I need to go there and—"

"You shouldn't be going anywhere, Kierra!" Remus cut in, raising his voice a bit to be heard over her.

"But—"

"You can't." Remus said, gesturing at Jackie. "You need to watch Jackie."

Kierra's face sank in dismay. "But—"

"I have a meeting with Jean-Benoit in a bit, remember?" Remus reminded her. "I'll ask him."

"In a _bit_?" Kierra squealed. "Remus, are you out of your mind? Imagine all the things he could do to Nora! This is insane. Time is of the essence, and we have to do something now! We should go there—"

Remus smiled slightly, putting a hand on Kierra's shoulder. "Kierra…be reasonable. We can't do anything right now. Do you want to trace all over France looking for them? It would probably take hours to even begin tracking them down, by which time Jean-Benoit would have already showed up for our meeting. I know you're worried…but we have to be reasonable. Let's just wait until I see him, and I'll straighten things out with him."

Kierra stood in silence for a few moments, as if trying to think of an argument with which to counter Remus. She sighed after a moment. "Fine. We'll wait."

Remus smiled slightly and sat Kierra down at the table. "I already made us lunch. Go ahead and eat something," he said, bringing out a plate of sandwiches and a pitcher of iced tea.

"I'm not hungry." Kierra said, picking up a sandwich and biting into it.

Remus smiled slightly as he sat down to feed Jackie her lunch of creamed spinach. "Do you think they're in a relationship?"

Kierra stopped chewing to gape at Remus.

"What? It's plausible, isn't it? Remus said, taking a sip of iced tea. "She's at the dating age now…"

"But how on earth would they have met?" Kierra asked, wracking her brains to remember if she had ever introduced Nora to Jean-Benoit in the few times she tagged along with Kierra to work before leaving for Beauxbatons.

Remus shrugged. "I have no idea. But you said she did a side-disapparation with him…did she look like she was doing it willingly?"

"Well, she looked like she was smiling…and I did hear her laugh…" Kierra muttered, "Oh, God. You're probably right. They're dating. Jean-Benoit is sneaking around with Nora…That little son of a—"

Remus slapped his hands over Jackie's ears as Kierra finished her sentence. Thinking Remus was playing some sort of game, Jackie giggled, spitting out half of her creamed spinach.

"Well, I could be wrong…" he said with a sigh. "I certainly hope so. Jean-Benoit isn't the most mature of men…"

"If you're wrong," Kierra started, but then deciding she didn't want to even begin going down that path, she sighed. "I don't think it looks very good any way we spin it. Nora's cutting school is bad enough."

Remus nodded, smiling sadly at Kierra. He knew full well of the numerous times Kierra had skived off class at Hogwarts (she had even tried to tempt him into skipping when they were a couple, in order to "do more important things like snogging", as Kierra used to put it). He wasn't about to remind her of those days, also knowing full well that Kierra didn't enjoy being called a hypocrite, even when it was in good humor. But he didn't blame her at all. He was, in fact, impressed with her current attitude towards Nora. A few months ago, before Nora was in their custody, Remus could have imagined Kierra encouraging this sort of behavior in her niece, not becoming anxious over it. She had changed so much…

"Hey."

Remus looked up. There had been a few moments of silence where they simply worked through their lunch. But now Kierra was looking at him rather earnestly.

"I'm—er—sorry—about—how I've been." She said with a sigh. "I know we haven't been seeing eye to eye on things lately, and…well, I've been rather selfish, not considering your feelings, not…conferring with you on things. I'm sorry about that. I should've talked to you before I decided to jump on board with Vincent. I've always valued your judgment, and I don't know what got into me…I don't know why I suddenly just decided to disregard it."

Perhaps she hadn't changed that much after all. Remus couldn't help but smile at the all too familiar look on Kierra's face. She did indeed look sorry. Lines creased over her forehead, and her lips sunk into a sad frown. And her eyes—Kierra had mastered the puppy eyes well enough that it seemed to be second nature to her. She had used them all the time on him when they were younger, whenever she wanted him to do things he didn't want to do…

Remus slid his hand across the table to envelope hers. "I'm sorry, I was a bit harsh with you—"

"No, you weren't." Kierra said, shaking her head. "That day when I blew up in front of Walter…I was completely out of line. And you being concerned with me and Vincent…I understand—"

Remus was shaking his head this time. "I trust you. I trust your judgment too, you know. And I know you're not some foolish little child. You're a smart woman, Kierra. And…when we do get married on that date in the vague future, I will be promising to take you for better or for worse, unconditionally. I should be doing that now as well. You are who you are, and I've never wished you to be different. I'm sorry I was so harsh on you…calling you things like arrogant. You're not."

Kierra shrugged a little, and as they sat in silence (with the exception of Jackie poking her fingers into her bowl saying "goopy" repeatedly), they each knew the fight was over; the tension was gone.

Except for the awkward moment of what to say next…

Kierra drummed her fingers against her lap. "So…" she finally started, smiling a bit shyly at Remus at the mere thought of the subject she was going to return to. "The wedding…are we still getting married?"

Remus's eyes widened slightly as he looked nervously at Kierra. "Er…I thought we were…"

"Well, we haven't done any real wedding planning in a long time!" Kierra said with a giggle. "I picked out a dress and we have a rough guest list…but we haven't even set a date yet—"

"…Just some time in the summer's all we agreed on." Remus said with a nod. "You're right. We haven't talked about it at all. Well I mean, it has been a bit busy these past couple months…and…well—"

"…We've been getting pissed at each other every other day, and that's all a bit distracting to the wedding planning process." Kierra finished with a grin.

"Yes, quite." Remus said as he sat back in his chair. "Well…alright. Er…when do you think would be a good time to have it?"

"July might be nice. We can try for the first weekend. I mean, it'll be easier for everyone to get away from work in the summer, especially our friends in England...and all of our underage guests will be out of school by then too…" Kierra said.

Remus cocked an eyebrow at her. "Our friends from England?" he asked. "They'll come here?"

Kierra smiled slightly. "Well…wouldn't you like to invite them? I mean, Dominique, Kingsley, Tonks—"

"No, I meant…they'll be coming here because we'll be having the wedding here?" asked Remus uncertainly. He had always imagined them getting married in England…

Kierra frowned. "Oh—I assumed we'd have it here…I mean, we _live_ here and all."

"Right."

"You imagined us marrying in England, didn't you?" Kierra asked with a small smile.

Remus shrugged. "Well…I mean, we're both English…I thought it would be nice to do it in the place we consider home."

Kierra stared down at her empty plate. This _was_ home, wasn't it? They had been there for years. Well, _she_ had been there for years…It suddenly occurred to Kierra that while she was quite comfortable with being French, perhaps Remus wasn't. Did he not see himself as a permanent resident in this country? She supposed he hadn't been here _that_ long, not long enough to call this place his home. And he had come here on a mission from the Order, not to move here for his own interests. Kierra was suddenly very conscious of the differences in their mindsets, and before she could stop herself, she had let out a heavy sigh.

"We can't go through this again." She murmured as she sank back in her chair.

Remus cocked an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean? Go through what again?"

Kierra shrugged. "This. This was why we broke up in the first place…don't you remember? We always had disagreements about major issues! Before it was you wanting a million little babies and me wanting none, and now—"

"Kierra"—Remus raised his hands up defensively to silence her—"I really don't think the issue of where we should get married is that big a deal. You know, we could compromise or something," he said, smiling wryly, "perhaps meet each other halfway and just have it in Belgium?"

Kierra smiled, but her face still looked troubled. "No, I don't mean the wedding…I mean our different mindsets! I'm used to it here…I _like_ it here. I don't think I want to move back to England…I have no one there. But you…you're an Englishman…you've always been one, your life is there. You want to move there, don't you?"

"Oh…you were thinking about where we'd live after we married…" Remus said quietly, nodding in understanding.

"Yes. Remus, please…I know this is a major thing…but I'm sure it's something we can work out—"

"Kierra," Remus interjected with a frown, "we're not seventeen anymore…I'm sure we won't just break up because of a difference. Don't worry! Anyway, we don't really have a choice as to where we can live after we marry. We both have contracts here. My work for the Order isn't done here. We'll keep living here when we marry…and maybe we can revisit the subject in a few years, when our contracts with the school have expired. Does that work for you?" he asked, smiling slightly.

Slowly, Kierra nodded. "That works for me. But—"

"And we can wed in France." Remus interjected, still smiling. "Whatever you want. As long as we both show up and get to marry each other, I'm fine doing the wedding anywhere."

Kierra could feel her cheeks flush as a smile spread across her face. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"No…really, are you _sure_? You don't mind having it here?" Kierra asked again uncertainly, though she was still smiling.

"It's fine. Really." He replied.

Kierra was grinning from ear to ear now as she summoned her briefcase from the living room. "Let's go over the guest list….oh, and the menu! And we should go make an appointment at the bakery to taste cake samples. Oh, and I promise that we can have chocolate…" Kierra said, sounding practically giddy as she pulled out a quill and some parchment to begin making outlines for the wedding planning.

"With chocolate frosting?" Remus asked, cocking an eyebrow at Kierra.

"Absolutely. Chocolate everything." Kierra replied. "I mean, aside from the fact that it's delicious, it'll drive Dominique insane…you know how much she hates tackiness."

"Quite," Remus agreed happily as he turned his attention back to Jackie and her lunch. "and that's such an excellent fringe benefit…"

* * *

Dominique stared blankly at the shiny piano keys in front of her. Her head felt heavy from her general lack of sleep during the week—being a teacher was much more time consuming than she had bargained for. Aside from teaching music classes most of the day, she spent all of her free hours either doing lesson plans or tidying up the classroom. And when she got home from work she spent even more time with lesson plans. And to top it off, since she was a full-time faculty member, she was expected to attend weekly department meetings with the other Fine Arts teachers, and monthly school meetings with all the other teachers. She had to participate in extracurricular activities with the students; she ended up having to take charge of coordinating the music program—organizing recitals, helping with music for school plays, and putting together a choir with some of her older students.

Dominique pulled herself up from her piano bench with a great sigh, thinking bitterly of the job she could have had at Hogwarts. She would have taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, and that would have been all. A few staff meetings over the year, a few patrol assignments, but that would have been all. There wouldn't have been that much dedication involved with working at Hogwarts. And there they were at least like her. They weren't muggles.

Not that she had anything against muggles. She got along fine with them. But having to hide her magic, having to live as a muggle the majority of the day was so inconvenient. But then, she was used to it. She had lived amongst them for so long, after the first war, only to return to the magical world when Sirius had escaped from Azkaban, and only making occasional appearances at that.

But this was all her choice. She didn't have to live amongst muggles. She could have easily found a job elsewhere in the magical community, especially now that she was living in Britain again, whose magical community was larger than that of any other country in the world. But she didn't have the energy to look. She didn't have the energy to stage a fully-fledged return to the community she had run away from. Not when the reason she had left was because of Sirius. Not when the reason she had made occasional returns was because of Sirius. He was gone for good now, so she had no one to return to.

Not quite sure of what else to do, Dominique fell back into her seat in front of the piano and began staring at it again, occasionally striking a few chords, as if to awaken the senses she had lost when she lost Sirius as the music flowed through her. Nothing though. She thought briefly of Kingsley, but immediately pushed the images of her short moment of intimacy with him aside, shuddering.

She struck another chord, and it stung her. Then another, and it seemed to alleviate the pain from the sting. Dominique glanced down at her fingers, suddenly conscious of the fact that she was physically sitting in front of her piano and playing.

"I like that…" she murmured, processing all the notes she had just played in that brief moment.

And almost instinctively, Dominique reached for the magazine rack beside her piano, where she kept all her music and blank scores. She pulled out a blank sheet and a quill, and immediately began to scribble the notes she had just played onto the score. When she had finished, she placed her handwritten music in front of her and played the chords again.

"…then it should quicken…" Dominique muttered as she dropped her hands onto the keys and began experimenting with a few combinations of sounds.

She continued to alternate between playing, muttering musical instructions to herself and scribbling notes onto the paper in front of her. Almost half an hour later, she had several lines of music written out. Dominique pulled back slightly from her piano, as if to resurface from her musical reverie while she stared at the music in front of her. She had never written music before. Small, one-line exercises for her classes every now and then, but she had never tried writing an entire piece.

It wasn't quite done yet; it didn't feel done. It was nowhere near done, in fact. She had just finished the beginning. Dominique smiled ruefully at the unfinished piece as she dipped her quill in her bottle of ink and leaned forward to title her work.

* * *

"Oh, Professeur! Je ne pense pas si…"

Smiling slightly, Remus shook his head at Jean-Benoit. "You can continue to research by your own methodological inclinations if you wish, but I think sooner than later you'll come to the conclusion that my proposed alterations would have benefited you greatly."

Remus watched as Jean-Benoit shifted slightly in his seat, frowning as he glanced over the corrections Remus had made to his research paper. "But ze alterations you 'ave suggested are beeg ones. It vill take me a long time to feenish zen."

Chuckling, Remus reclined in his chair. "An excellent finished product never comes without long hours and hard work. If you want full marks on your paper, I'd suggest making those changes. If you want your paper to look good in front of the faculty when you present it at the end of the term, those changes are absolutely necessary."

With a disgruntled sigh, Jean-Benoit shoved his paper into his bag and stood up. "Thanks, Professeur Lupin. I'll work on ze changes. I'll see you—"

"Just a moment, Jean-Benoit." Remus interrupted, reaching his hand out to Jean-Benoit, "Sit back down, please. I need to talk to you about something else."

"Oh?"

Jean-Benoit fell back into his seat, cocking an eyebrow at Remus.

He cleared his throat a little, attempting to buy himself some time as he tried to figure out the best way to aproach the matter. "I happen to know that you were with Nora Nakofsky a few hours ago." he stated bluntly. "Why were you with her and where did you take her?"

"Sorry?"

Jean-Benoit had straightened up in his seat, eyes widened slightly.

"Kierra saw you two earlier," Remus said, leaning forward in his swivel chair. "She saw the two of you in the woods. She saw you two disapparate. Now, fill me in, Jean-Benoit."

Jean-Benoit threw his head back and laughed a little. "Professuer, _really_...zis is...I do not know vat you ah talking -"

"Before you finish that claim of not knowing anything," Remus interjected, "it may interest you to know that Nora is under Kierra and my guardianship. It would therefore do well for you to tell me the truth."

"But sir - "

"You are not leaving this office until I receive a satisfactory answer." Remus pressed. "I think it highly unlikely that Kierra was seeing things in the woods today. You were with Nora and we want to know why - "

Remus's office door burst open. Kierra stormed in.

"Oh, Lord." he muttered, getting up quickly.

"What the bloody _hell_ did you think you were doing with her, huh?!" Kierra snarled, looking a somewhat wild-eyed at Jean-Benoit. "She's a daughter to me now! You tell me what you were doing with Nora!"

Remus had hurried around his desk to Kierra's side, holding her back by the shoulder as she rattled off in French at a terrified-looking Jean-Benoit.

"Kierra, calm down, please!" he exclaimed, stepping between Kierra and Jean-Benoit and extending his arms out to either of them. Certain now that the risk of Kierra pouncing or using unforgivable curses was gone, Remus turned to Jean-Benoit again. "Explain yourself."

Eyeing Remus and then Kierra, who was glowering, Jean-Benoit sighed with resignation. "Alright. Fine. I am dating Nora. And we were together today in ze woods. But I promise -" his eyes widened suddenly with anxiousness - "she eez at Beauxbatons right now. Zat eez where I took her, so she eez perfectly safe!"

"What were you doing with her here in the first place? And when and where did you two even meet?" demanded Kierra.

Jean-Benoit was knotting his fingers in his lap, staring determinedly at the floor. "I met her a few months ago, when she first moved 'ere. She was out shopping, and she had gotten lost so I helped her find her way to ze clothing shop. And we...how do you say...clicked. Yes, we clicked that day. When she told me who she was related to, I became hesitant to carry on, but she inseested zat eet would be fine if we just heed our relationsheep from you...for ze time being." he added quickly. "Ze meeting we had today was her idea. But--"

"So you're blaming her for all this? For all your recklessness?!" Kierra interjected, leaning over Remus's outstretched arm to get closer to Jean-Benoit.

"No!" Jean-Benoit replied quickly, standing up, "Of course not! Nora eez a wonderful girl--"

"You're damn right she's a wonderful girl," snapped Kierra, "and I'm not about to let her ruin her life with a guy like--"

"Right," Remus interjected quickly, stepping in front of Kierra and forcing a small smile at Jean-Benoit, "thank you for coming clean with us. We're just concerned with Nora's well-being."

"Of course." Jean-Benoit replied, nodding his head vigorously in agreement while he eyed Kierra.

"Alright," said Remus, reaching for the door and holding it open for Jean-Benoit, "you're free to leave now."

"Thank you, monsieur."

And without further ado (except for the protests of Kierra), Jean-Benoit hurried out of the office.

"Remus!" Kierra exclaimed as the door slammed behind Jean-Benoit, "Why the hell did you just let him go like that? For God's sake, he's dating Nora! He said so himself! And you just let him walk out of here without--"

"Without what?" Remus interjected, cocking an eyebrow at Kierra. "A proper flogging? A good hex?"

Kierra shrugged. "Or something to that measure..."

Remus rolled his eyes and put an arm around Kierra. "Jean-Benoit isn't ours to reprimand. It's Nora we need to talk with."

"Yeah, ok." Kierra muttered. "But Jean-Benoit is a better target. Much easier to yell at and whatnot..."

Remus laughed. "You do know that if you terrorized him any further, he could have been frightened into breaking up with Nora. She in turn would rage against us for causing it. I think it's best that we didn't harrass Jean-Benoit any more than we did. We got some answers out of him and that's all we really need for the time being."

"I suppose." Kierra replied with a shrug. "We can write to Nora and demand for details later..."

"Yes...well, unless...should we let Nora come to us with the news?" Remus asked, glancing down at Kierra questioningly. "We might be pushing Nora away even more if we press her for explanations. Maybe she'll open up to us on her own."

"Yeah, maybe..."

"Then again, she's been seeing him for a couple of months now and she's been hiding it all this time." Remus said. "Do you think that one day, shortly after she moved here, when she had gone shopping and had come back in a good mood that she had met him? I mean, Jean-Benoit had said that he met her while she was shopping. Plus she had returned that day like a new person. All her bitterness towards me seemed to have melted away. Do you remember?"

Kierra nodded, frowning. "Yeah, I remember. She was in such a good mood."

"What's wrong?" Remus asked, detecting the dejected tone in her voice.

Kierra shrugged. "She's been hiding this all along."

"I know. But...you know, she's a teenager. They hide things. We hid plenty of things from our parents when we were her age." Remus replied.

"I know," said Kierra, now pulling herself away from Remus's loose embrace, "but she's my niece. She's my only niece, and I was always her favourite aunt. She always told me things. We confided in each other. I mean, we were friends before anything else, you know?"

Remus smiled ruefully. "You're her guardian now. You're a parent figure and she's starting to see you as one."

"Oh great."

"Not that your old friendship with her is gone forever," said Remus, "I'm sure if we give it some time, she'll come around and your relationship with her will slowly go back to how it was before. She'll be your friend again."

Kierra sighed. "I certainly hope so. I hate that she feels like she has to keep this stuff from me. I guess all I can do now is hope that I can salvage my relationship with Jackie..."

At the mention of Jackie, Remus's eyes widened suddenly. "Kierra! Did you leave Jackie at home by herself? Please tell me you didn't!"

Kierra grinned. "You're such a worry wart."

"Kierra!"

"Relax. Pierre flooed over to drop some papers off so I left him with her."

Remus sighed. "Kierra, Pierre hates children."

"That's not true!"

"Kierra..."

"Well, alright it is." Kierra said, rolling her eyes. "But that doesn't stop him from being good with them. He hates it, but he's got a certain charm with the children. Jackie especially. She was trying to climb up his leg when I left them. I've never seen her enjoying herself so much!"

Shaking his head, Remus grabbed his briefcase. "We should go home before Pierre's charms with the children wear off."

* * *

Dominique jumped, dropping the spoon she was holding into the cauldron of soup she had been heating over the stove. She glanced at the door suspiciously as the person behind it knocked on it again. She had been humming and hadn't quite heard it the first time. Abandoning her sunken spoon, Dominique hastily wiped her hands on her apron as she made her way to the door.

"Who is it?"

"Tonks!"

Dominique grabbed the doorknob, turned it halfway, and paused. "Er...who's my favorite composer right now?" she asked after some hesitation, grinning despite herself. It was a ridiculous process, this whole questioning procedure that the ministry of magic had requested people to do before allowing company to enter.

"D, do you really think I can really keep track of all the bloody composers you're into? You change your mind every week!" came Tonks's exasperated voice from the other side of the door.

Still grinning, Dominique opened the door to find Tonks leaning against the doorway with a bundle of parchments tucked under one arm.

"Wotcher, D."

"Come on in." Dominique replied, opening the door wider and gesturing for Tonks to enter. "How's it going?"

Been better," Tonks said with a sigh as she stepped into Dominique's flat, "my job is going to be the death of me."

"Keeping you busy then?" Dominique said, smiling slightly.

"You have no idea. I can't remember the last time I got more than four or five hours of sleep at night." Tonks said as she and Dominique took a seat on the sofa. "Seriously, I actually miss my bed. And I loathe my alarm clock. I physically hate it. I only regret the fact that it's an inanimate object and that performing the cruciatus curse on it won't actually hurt it. But you know, otherwise I'm perfectly fine, you?" Tonks finished, grinning.

Dominique laughed. "Oh, you know, busy with work and stuff, but I suppose I don't have much to complain about. It's not a particularly high-stress job."

Tonks cocked an eyebrow at her. "Teaching children all day isn't high-stress? And they're muggle too, aren't they? So you can't use any magic around them, right?"

Dominique smiled. "Nope, no magic. But it's not that bad!" she added when Tonks shuddered.

"Right. Being surrounded by children all day and not being allowed to do any magic. I admire your strength, D."

Dominique rolled her eyes. "So...what brings you into my neck of the woods?" she asked, glancing at the bundle of parchment that Tonks had brought along with her.

Tonks picked up the bundle and dropped it in her lap. "Papers for Dumbledore. Order of the Phoenix stuff."

"Oh?" Dominique asked, taking the bundle.

Tonks shrugged. "I have no idea what it's about, to be honest. Some reports and such from Kingsley."

"Oh..."

"He tried getting in touch with Dumbledore, but he's gone off somewhere and none of us can reach him," explained Tonks, "but I remembered you telling me the other day that you were going to have dinner with him tonight, so I told Kingsley I could drop it off with you after I got off from work. You don't mind, do you?" Tonks asked, wrinkling her eyebrows slightly as she looked at Dominique.

"No, of course not. I am having dinner with him tonight, so it's no trouble. I'll see that he gets these." Dominique replied, letting her glance fall to the bundle now sitting in her lap.

"Excellent, thanks D." Tonks said, "As soon as I get home, I'll send word to Kingsley and let him know you're taking care of it."

Dominique nodded, and they lapsed into silence. Tonks had taken to glancing around to see the wall decorations displayed around the room, while Dominique quietly drummed her fingers against the bundle of parchments.

"Er...so...how...how is Kingsley then?" Dominique finally asked when she saw Tonks making a face at a muggle painting she had hanging near her piano.

Tonks shifted her glance back to Dominique. "Oh, well...you know, he's alright."

"Ah. That's...good."

"He seems a bit gloomy these days."

"Oh?"

"D, he told me about what happened between the two of you..."

"Oh."

"So..." Tonks leaned forward expectantly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Dominique shrugged. "We kissed."

"I know."

"I don't know how I feel about it. I'm...confused."

"I know."

Dominique glanced up at Tonks. "He hates me, doesn't he?"

Tonks smiled slightly. "Course he doesn't. He _likes_ you, D. He's been broodingly depressed lately, but he likes you."

Dropping her face into her hands, Dominique sighed. "I'm a horrible person, aren't I? He kissed me--oh hell, I kissed him back--I ran off and haven't spoken to him since...I'm awful."

"No you're not," Tonks said, patting her on the shoulder. "I think you've got some comunication issues you need to work out, but you're not a bad person. And you know, I think it's understandable...I mean, this is all because...well, because of Sirius, isn't it?"

Dominique lifed her head out of her hands, but kept her gaze down as she nodded. She felt herself burning with shame at the mention of Sirius's name. They were supposed to be together, until death parted them. Well, it had parted them...yet she couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt, of shame. After all, they had been meant for each other, hadn't they? They were supposed to be soulmates, perfect for each other in every way. How could she even begin to move away from that, even if it was all gone now?

"D, tell me honestly...do you like Kingsley?" Tonks asked. "There's nothing wrong with you if you do."

Dominique shrugged, now forcing herself to meet Tonks' gaze. "I do. I do like him. He's...well, you know him." she said with a small laugh. "He's a great person. But...I don't know. Tonks, it's just too weird...and wrong. It feels so wrong. I feel like I shouldn't move on. Hell, I don't want to move on...but I feel like I slowly am, like it's out of my control. And...well..."

"Yeah?"

"It's scaring me." Dominique said with a sigh, rolling her eyes at her choice of words. She expected Tonks to start glancing around awkwardly at any moment now, stalling as she figured out what to say to a statement as lame as that.

"I can understand." Tonks replied. "Sirius was part of your life for so long, half of your heart wants to cling to that old life. But the other half wants to let go of it because it's not there anymore. It wants to move forward. The internal conflict is getting to you."

Dominique cocked an eyebrow at her, slightly taken aback at her words. "That's exactly it." she said. "That's exactly how I feel--"

"Then give yourself time," Tonks cut in, "we lost Sirius only a few months ago, after all. It's still kind of...well, you need to take some time to figure things out, to figure out what you're ready for..."

"Yes, I suppose..."

"But you should at least talk to Kingsley," Tonks continued, "If you're not sure what you want right now, or if you're ready to move on or whatever…it's fine…but you should talk to Kingsley…he'll understand. And he deserves to know…he's a good guy."

Dominique smiled. "Yes, he is."

Tonks smiled as she stood up to take her leave. "I should get going. I need to run to the deli before it closes to pick up some dinner."

Dominique stood up. "I was just finishing up the dinner I've been preparing for Dumbledore and me. Wait here, I'll pack up some of it for you..."

"Oh, no!" Tonks protested, "That's alright, D--"

But Dominique had already hurried into the kitchen. "I made plenty, don't worry!" she called out to Tonks.

Tonks laughed. "Thanks D! I'd probably die from malnutrition if it weren't for you...and Mrs. Weasley."

Slowly making her way to the piano that Dominique kept in her living room, Tonk took a seat at the bench. Gently running her fingers over the keys, she sighed quietly and smiled. She loved the piano, but had never been able to gain mastery over the instrument. Clumsy fingers and whatnot. She glanced up at the sheets of music in front of her. The title of the piece was in what Tonks thought to be Italian. In the upper righthand corner in tiny print was the name "W.A. Mozart." Mozart. She didn't recognize it. Probably a muggle composer, Tonks thought to herself as she sifted through the sheets of music, wondering if she'd be able to find a title or composer name with which she was already familiar. But just as she pulled away a sheet of music with the title _Andalucia_, her attention was drawn to a thinner sheet of paper that had just come into view. Tonks reached for it, and suddenly realized that it was a handwritten score. The notes were strewn messily across the sheet in slightly smudged up ink. She cocked an eyebrow at it as she pulled the sheet out of the stack of music to get a better look at it. At the top of the page, in careful and elegant script, Tonks read the title of the piece, _Sirius's Song_.

* * *

**A/N, part II: now, since I obviously stink at updating this story and I feel bad about it, I'm offering to create a mailing list (like I've done for "Wanton Confessions") to keep you guys posted (I'll just send an email out when I post a new chapter for this fic). If you want to be added, just leave your email address in a review. )**


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